The economic growth should not be separated from the sustainable development. This statement was said by the minister of economy, energy and tourism Traycho Traykov during his meeting with John Ashton, appointed UK Special Representative for Climate Change in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Minister Traykov underlined the fact that this is exactly one of the basic targets of the Bulgarian government. The Second National Plan for energy efficiency is already prepared. Both minister Traykov and John Ashton shared the opinion that the growth of the world economy after the crisis should be based on resource efficiency policies.

They also discussed the intention of Bulgaria to extract shale gas, the transformation of the European economy into a low-carbon one, the usage of alternative energy resources in Bulgaria and the development of Project “Belene”.

On the topic about the shale gas, John Ashton said that it is a good alternative for the future and a possibility for diversification of the deliveries. He made it clear that the fact that after the gas has been burned, the carbon dioxide should be captured and stored would be a good idea.

An accent in the discussion was put on the transformation of the world’s economy into a low-carbon one. In the transition towards low-carbon economy Europe should keep its competitive power, said minister Traykov. According to Ashton the efforts should be directed to the building of a common European policy for low-carbon economies because each country still has its own different policy, according to the region.

Minister Traykov presented the progress in the restructuring of Bulgaria economy to the guests. He said that we would like to develop prior sectors with high added value as a replacement of capital intensive sectors. He used the sectors pharmacy, information technologies and electronics, in which Bulgaria has traditions and competitive advantages, as examples.

Minister Traykov emphasized on the implementation of the new law for renewable energy resources like wind energy, photovoltaic energy and energy from the biomass. He also stated that financial support would be asked for from the European Union for the project for capturing and storing of carbon dioxide.