(SOFIA) - Bulgaria announced plans Tuesday to counter a shortage of skilled labour by luring home tens of thousands of people who left to work and live abroad after the fall of Communism.

Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev told a round table that Bulgaria's economic situation had vastly improved since the early 1990s, when many Bulgarians left to seek a better life abroad.

"We've joined the European Union and our economic growth is stable,"

"But many sectors are now feeling the pinch of a labour shortage. We need to develop a special policy to keep close ties with the emigrants, and create good conditions for them to return," he said.

Some 500,000 Bulgarians currently live in other EU member states, 200,000 in the United States, 45,000 in Canada, 20,000 in Australia and a similar number in South Africa, according to Bulgaria's labour minister, Emilia Maslarova.

Stanishev said the government would pay "special attention" to the 50,000 Bulgarians studying abroad, to encourage graduates to return home.

It is also planning to issue so-called "green cards" to descendants of Bulgarian emigrants who do not hold citizenship but are ready to return.

"Blue cards" will also be issued to foreign professionals who are ready to settle in Bulgaria.

Major employers in Bulgaria's energy, construction and tourism sectors have complained of problems finding skilled workers.

The head of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, Bozhidar Danev, warned the shortages would become more acute in the coming years with the planned launch of several major infrastructure and energy projects.

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