Transition to green economy in the Black Sea region was discussed at international seminar in Sofia
BCCI is a partner in organizing the seminar “Green Business in Bulgaria and the Black Sea Region. Challenges and opportunities”, which was held on 30 March in Inter Expo Center - Sofia. The event accompanies the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Exhibition and Congress.
The seminar was initiated by the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Business Council (BSEC BC) with the support of BCCI, UNDP Black Sea Trade & Investment Promotion Programme (UNDP/BSTIP) and Via Expo. It was one of the main activities of the project “Green Business Network in the wider Black Sea area” coordinated by the BSEC Hellenic Development Fund.
The event aimed to engage all green economy stakeholders (green entrepreneurs and businesses, business organizations, financiers, policy makers, representatives of the science circles and the community) from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine.
The Secretary General of BSEC Business Council Mrs. Eftychia Bacopoulou opened the seminar and thanked BCCI for its support in the organization of the event.
The Vice President of BCCI Mr. Georgi Stoev welcomed the participants and said that the green energy topic directly affects the members of BCCI. Various EU programmes in the period 2007 – 2013 provide financial grants to the amount of EUR 105 billion, of which about EUR 2 billion are intended for Bulgaria. The funds can be used for investments in green projects and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is extremely devoted and interested in the success of this endeavor. The first step towards successful understanding of the green economy principles is to realize that it is possible to create more added value by using less energy.
BCCI develops two European projects through the Enterprise Europe Network. The project Wizard of the Environment: the Enterprise Europe Network aims to reduce the impacts of the activity of SMEs on the environment and to support European SMEs in overcoming environmental challenges and turning them into economic opportunities.
The GREEN project addresses the environmental aspects of the food industry and the production of construction materials. More than 310 000 companies work in the two sectors which employ over 4 million European workers. The Project assists Enterprise Europe Network in delivering basic environmental services to SMEs from the two sectors.
Presentations were made by all stakeholders in the region, Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Bulgarian Sustainable Energy Association, Bulgarian Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers, universities, European Investment Fund, banks, Bulgarian Association of Municipal Environmental Experts, the University of Forestry, etc.
Materials from the seminar are available in BCCI’s Library.