Economic Development, Sustainability and Policies in the Context of Global Transformations: Realities and Prospects

This article provides an analytical overview of the International Conference 2025 “Economic Development and Policies: Realities and Prospects. Sustainability in the Conditions of Global Transformations”, organised by the Economic Research Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and held in Sofia on 24 November 2025. It situates economic and social development within the context of accelerating global transformations, including geo-economic fragmentation, climate change, technological disruption and evolving European policy frameworks. On this basis, the article synthesises contributions from the plenary session and four thematic panels, covering European integration, regional and sectoral resilience, enterprise adaptability, and macroeconomic and social dimensions of development. Emphasis is placed on Bulgaria’s medium-term prospects related to euro adoption and fiscal sustainability, where scenario-based assessments stress the need to preserve a fiscal buffer under climate, structural and external shocks. Across sessions, discussions reveal a persistent gap between formally adopted policies and the capacity for their effective implementation, reflecting institutional, fiscal and data-related constraints. These challenges are especially visible in economies with limited institutional resources and higher sensitivity to internal and external shocks. A central conclusion is that policy ambition increasingly outpaces institutional readiness, shaping development outcomes and exposing weaknesses in governance and coordination. The conference also shows a shift in sustainability from a normative goal to an adaptive framework for managing risks and uncertainty. Digitalisation, artificial intelligence, ESG frameworks and circular economy models are conditional drivers whose impact depends on regulatory coherence, human capital and governance quality.