SOFIA, May 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. tech giant Google on Monday launched a digital competency training initiative here for Bulgaria's small and middle-sized business (SMBs).

Under the initiative titled "Grow with Google," 15,000 individuals and SMBs in 37 cities across the Balkan country would be trained by the end of the year, Annette Kroeber-Riel, Google's senior director of public policy and government relations, said at the launching ceremony.

"During this period, 12 digital consultants will deliver trainings, workshops, and one-on-one sessions which will focus on growing business online by making use of digital tools and instruments," Kroeber-Riel said.

She said the European economy and society are undergoing a digital transformation, which offers enormous opportunities for growth, innovation and jobs.

"However, according to the European Commission's data, 44 percent of the EU population and 37 percent of the labour workforce has insufficient levels of digital skills," she said.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov who attended the event said that in today's world, digital skills and knowledge are wealth, "and we all have to change ourselves if we want to be competitive on the market."

Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Economy Alexander Manolev added that initiatives like "Grow with Google" are very important because the number of SMBs in Bulgaria is 316,000, which is 99.8 percent of all non-financial enterprises in the country, and they are the backbone of the economy.