Sofia, February 3 (BTA) - Over 207 million euro will be invested in the development of the regions on the two sides of the Bulgaria-Romania border in the 2021-2027 period under the Interreg VI-A programme between the two countries. This transpired in remarks by Deputy Regional Development Minister Delyana Ivanova as she chaired an online meeting of the joint working group for strategic planning for the programme.

The meeting approved the final version of the programme before submitting it for approval to the European Commission.

Among the key priorities are environmental protection, climate change, improving connectivity by developing the rail networks and navigation on the Danube, tourism and financial support for small and mid-sized businesses.

The biggest share of the programme funding, close to 93 million euro, will go towards Green Deal activities.

The strategic investment and calls to proposals will seek to attract projects between the two countries for preventing disasters, building green infrastructure and reducing pollution in the settlements on the Danube.

Over 70 million euro will be invested in an integrated strategy for supporting the local communities in the border regions to define their own investment priorities in tourism and related sectors. Among the strategic priorities here is completing the Eurovello route in Bulgaria and Romania.

Funding will also be available for improving the competitiveness of micro-, small and medium-sized businesses as they deal with the aftermath of the COVID crisis.

Deputy Minister Ivanova believes that if work on the programme makes good progress, investment in the region can start before the end of 2022.