Financiarul

Bucharest will host a Summit Economic Conference Forum 2009 (SEF) conference, to be attended by over 1,500 energy specialists, on November 12.
There are two working sessions on energy security, energy efficiency and climate change, international funding programmes, promoting Romania’s advantages, small and medium-sized enterprises and industrial as well as commercial competitiveness and the global financial situation.

Representing Romania in the conference are State Secretary with the Economy Ministry Tudor Serban, as well as management officials of Transgaz, Transelectrica, Nuclearelectrica, ENEL and GDF Suez. Among the issues to be tackled are the importance of diversifying hydrocarbons sources and supply routes, efficient use of resources, particularly in Central Europe, along with regional energy projects.

Ambassador Hido Biscevic, Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council, will discuss the role of energy cooperation in South-Eastern Europe in economic development, while official of the European Bank fir Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Michael Green will analyse the role of the Central Europe Initiative (CEI) in regional energy supply projects.

The SEF conference will be followed by important political events, including a summit meeting of the 18 ICE government heads, and preceded by a roundtable conference of economic sector ministers of the 18 CEI member states on November 11.

Expected to attend the events are government offcials from CEI countries, business executives, officials of international financial institutions, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, as well as officials of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in Europe (OECDE), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the European Union.

The event is organised by the Romanian Economy Ministry, the Ministry for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Business Environment and the Central Europe Initiative (CEI). The Central European Initiative comprises 18 member states that cover 2.4 million square kilometers and a population of nearly 260 million. The main aim of CEI was to help the Central and Eastern Europe on their way to final integration with EU structures.