Background

The idea of developing an investment profile of Gabrovo Municipality for WWW was inspired by the visit of a delegation from the town of Gabrovo to Portage, Michigan, USA in April 2001. The dynamic development of informational technologies and step-by-step utilization of a variety of effective ways of communicating and providing information, suggested the development of such website.

Practice

Generally, the investment profile gives information focused more or less on potential investors from Bulgaria and abroad. It includes:
- presentation of the municipality (geographic location, specifications and climate conditions), stressing the fact that the geographic centre of Bulgaria is located within the area of Gabrovo Municipality, which actually means quick and effective transportation of products and services to any desired location in Bulgaria;
- presenting advantages, provided that an investor decides to invest and develop his/her own business in Gabrovo qualified work force, facilities of Technical University, ready to use infrastructure and communications, supportive attitude of municipal administration, beneficial climate, beautiful nature.

Specifics of the investment profile are reflected by the contents of the database, which could be divided in two parts:

Business information:
- juridical regulations, taxes (all necessary information for the investor s activity);
- typical industries for the region;
- classification of companies by type, thus defining the economic image of Gabrovo;
- map of the city showing the most interesting free municipal sites (area measurements, built or free areas, intended function, contact person);
- construction and privatization program of the Municipality for 2002, featuring other projects in need of additional funding;
- information on current priority projects, i.e. Building up a gasification system in Gabrovo ;
- register of public biddings and competition events;
- useful links (links to Chambers of Commerce and Industry, High-tech business incubator, Regional business centre, etc.);
- promotion of the city and an interesting approach in elaboration of the profile based on the advice of foreign investors, who have already developed their businesses in the region the reasons for their choice and what has attracted them to this location.

Electronic newspaper
- the right frame of the website has been organized as an electronic newspaper, where you can find any information for events on the territory of the city meetings of municipal administration, all entertainment and sports facilities, news flash. The site is updated daily.
- viewers of the investment profile are able to review the activity of Gabrovo Municipality all adopted regulations, meetings schedule and other details. The accumulated information has been archived since the beginning of 2001.
- a list of all available services and activities of the Citizen Services Centre has been published also.
- Gabrovo citizens are able to fill a form, thus evaluating services offered by municipal administration and giving an opinion about significant social issues garbage collection, stray dogs, local taxes and charges, transport problems, public works.
- Ask the Mayor section is a specific barometer of public opinion, indicating the level of performance and service provision of municipality administration.

Results

Developing an electronic investment profile and creating a web site of Gabrovo municipality with interactive feedback provokes a favorable environment for attracting investors interest. The website contains a well-organized and structured information flow, which outlines municipality strengths and inspires initiation of useful partnerships. The information on current priority projects is of great value. The web site demonstrates a multitude of ways for promoting the city advantages, one of the most interesting being introducing testimonials by investors in the region. In the working process the project draws on the experience and broadens the already existing partnership with Portrage, Michigan, USA.