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The Head of State: the Competitiveness of the Bulgarian Economy Should be Boosted in the Process of Transformation to Ecologically Neutral Productions

Rumen Radev took part in a discussion dedicated to preserving nature and fighting climate change with students from the University of Forestry

Humankind is facing the issue of how to fight climate change and we should specify where Bulgaria’s place is and how the country can take part in the process. This is what Head of State Rumen Radev said at a discussion with students dedicated to the approaches for preserving nature and fighting climate change. The meeting was attended by students, PhD students and lecturers at the University of Forestry, the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy and the Faculty of Management at the Technical University – Sofia.

In the President’s words, the so called EU Green deal, which has set itself the ambitious goal to achieve a climate neutral economy, will increasingly define Europe’s future. It is not only a matter of how to develop such an economy, but also how to change the people’s mindset, to change the production of energy and its consumption, how to utilize all available resources, Rumen Radev said. The Head of State emphasized that all this highlights the key role of education in understanding the processes which will form the public relations in the future and humankind’s role in preserving and reasonably utilizing the world resources.

“We expect you to set the tempo and direction of these changes. It also depends on you whether Bulgaria will have the high national ambition to develop as a country with an ecological focus and develop sustainable eco-systems,” the President said.

In the Head of State’s words, the big issue our country is facing is what will happen to the competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy in the process of transformation to ecologically neutral productions. “We should develop technologies and productions which will allow us to include in the economy of the future also the following balance – ecologically clean productions, preserving the competitiveness which currently is based on traditional productions – here we should together seek the solution,” Rumen Radev said.

The Head of State noted that we should not allow Bulgaria to become only a consumer of new technologies. In Rumen Radev’s opinion, the EU Green deal will outline a new division between countries – some will implement financial programs, so as to develop state-of-the-art ecological technologies, and others will be provided funding only to carry out their transformation to a neutral economy.

“If we fail to get involved in the process and do not have the ambition to develop these technologies together with our partners, we will confirm our position as a peripheral EU member state,” the Head of State was adamant. Rumen Radev reiterated his call for having high-quality education be recognized and affirmed as a strategic national priority, including by providing the respective funding so that both in higher education and in secondary school the students and pupils can acquire not only knowledge but also skills, whereby they can fully participate in building a high added-value economy in Bulgaria.

The discussion with students under the heading “The decisions of the scholarly circles to preserve our world,” took place in the aula of the University of Forestry.