BCCI co-hosted an Eastern Europe Green Energy Forum
On 26 May 2011 in Sofia, an Eastern Europe Green Energy Forum was held. The event was organized on the occasion of a visit by a Korean business delegation with interests in the field of renewable energy. The event was organized by the Sofia office of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency - KOTRA.
Mr. Georgi Stoev, Vice President of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry together with Mr. Hwan-Eik Cho, President of KOTRA and H.E. Chun Bee-ho, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea in Sofia welcomed the participants.
Mr. Stoev addressed the representatives of companies from Bulgaria, Republic of Korea, Romania, Hungary and Poland saying that he hopes the free trade agreement between the European Union and South Korea, which will enter into force on 1 July 2011, will result in even more successful partnerships. “The fact is that the interest in renewable energy sources is enormous”, Mr. Stoev said. Since the beginning of this year, this has been the third event on the topic in Sofia organized by KOTRA. According to him more efforts are needed to achieve the goals set by the EU and Bulgaria in particular, to produce and use green energy by 2020. The Vice President of BCCI invited Korean companies to look for Bulgarian partners in other sectors of economy as well.
The President of KOTRA said that Korean companies see Eastern Europe as a place which offers favourable conditions for investments in renewable energy. Of course, cooperation between the governments of the respective countries is helpful when forming policies and providing advantageous business conditions.
H.E. Chun Bee-ho greeted the participants in the forum and said that the new renewable energy act adopted recently in Bulgaria will provide new opportunities for Korean investors. Of course, there are conflicting points, but the general expectation is to maintain the good cooperation in the sector.
The forum continued with a presentation of the conditions for development of projects for production of renewable energy in Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and Hungary. The participants in the event will continue their work tomorrow, when bilateral meetings with local partners will be held.