site.btaProject Launched to Transform Trakia Economic Zone into EU's First Carbon Neutral Industrial Park

The 0-Carbon Trakia Economic Zone (C0TEZ) project was officially launched in Plovdiv (South Central Bulgaria) on Thursday. The two-year project aims to develop a detailed plan for the future energy development of Trakia Economic Zone and its transformation into the first carbon neutral industrial park in the EU. The expected investments in high-tech and energy-intensive industries are expected to reach EUR 4 billion, the Ministry of Innovation and Growth said in a press release.

The C0TEZ project was initiated and is led by Prof. Georgi P. Georgiev, and the partner is the Trakia Economic Zone Cluster. The project is implemented with the help of and in collaboration with Bulgaria's strategic partner - Germany, and is funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) as a priority international strategic project. The three sides signed the project agreement on Thursday.

Speaking at the event, Minister of Innovation and Growth Tomislav Donchev said: "We should multiply Trakia Economic Zone's experience in other promising places for the country." "I plan and have the ambition to personally function as an employer organisation and look after the interests of every current and future investor. We need changes in regulations to make the investment process much faster so that we do not lose potential investors. We will focus on vocational education and the qualification of young people," he went on to say.

"Industry is the most undervalued sector in the Bulgarian economy. Its problems, needs, and opportunities are not talked about, but it accounts for more than a quarter of GDP - nearly 28%. It is the backbone of the Bulgarian economy and the sector to which we are all indebted," Donchev noted. He added: "I have promised to wage a personal war against the prejudice that nothing is produced in Bulgaria."

He also said that it is of utmost importance to multiply the experience of Trakia Economic Zone in at least four or five other promising points in the country. "The model here is good in terms of concentration, scale, cooperation between the State and local authorities, and business commitment to education," Donchev said. He argued that if there were several such centres, the country's GDP would be 50% higher. The Minister also stressed that the main focus is the evolution of high value-added technologies.

Donchev thanked German Ambassador to Bulgaria Irene Plank for the German investments in the country.

The project's official launch was also attended by the German Ambassador, German Honorary Consul in Plovdiv Mariana Cholakova, DBU Secretary General Alexander Bonde, Trakia Economic Zone Executive Director and Trakia Economic Zone Cluster head Plamen Panchev, experts from the Ministry of Innovation and Growth, representatives of municipalities in the region and local businesses.