The European Mining Business Forum 2016: Investments for Sustainable Development

The fourth edition of the European Mining Business Forum (EMBF) will be held on September 13th this year in Hilton Hotel, Sofia. The event will put the main pillars of the European Minerals and Raw Industry - economic, environment, and social responsibility - in the core of its discussions.

The conference is under the aegis of H.E. Temenuzhka Petkova, Minister of Energy of the Republic of Bulgaria. The main organizers are the Bulgarian Chamber of Mining and Geology (BCMG), the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Euromines. Engineering Review Magazine and the Industry Info e-portal are one of the event’s media partners.

The aim of the forum is to provide the participants some new solutions for achieving the sustainable development of their organizations. The event provides excellent platform for discussions, policy debate, b2b meetings, as well as best practices sharing.

Since 2010 every two years the conference has been gathering government and business representatives, EU officials, local and regional government, investors, consultants and experts, academia, and media. All of them share knowledge and network for the sake of the mining sector.
"The EMBF is the place for high level meetings between institutions and investors in Southeast Europe. With such a targeted event, the mining sector demonstrates is maturity and responsibility, as well as it re-confirms its engagement for sustainable development", said eng. Ivan Andreev, Executive Director of BCMG.

The forum’s conference program will reflect the world trends in the raw materials sector and take into consideration the specifics of the SEE Region and Bulgaria itself. EMBF will also provide raw materials market analyses and risk evaluation of the large-scale investments in the context of the low prices of the metals. There is a direct link between these topics and the competitiveness of the minerals and raw materials industry on both national and European levels. The program will focus on the global processes such as the slowdown of the resources import in China, as well as on the threats coming from granting its status as a market economy.

The European dimension in the program is complemented by the topics of the reindustrialization of Europe and the needed place of the mining industry in this process. The extraction from local sources has an implication on a variety of microeconomic factors. The most tangible one for the local residents is the improvement of the quality and standard of living. There are plenty of opportunities for a positive interaction between the investor and the local community.

Horizon 2020 - the program for new business opportunities and innovation exchange of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) - will show the direct link of the aforementioned topics and Europe’s reindustrialization. It relies on innovation as the only solution for the sustainable development of the industry. The 20th century is concerned with how to continue utilizing the resources in a responsible and sustainable way. The mining industry strives to benefit all, including the environment by protecting it and investing in its re-cultivation after the mining is complete.

Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, expects strong interest in the leading companies’ best practices presentations. The combination of innovation and best practices represents one of the distinctive features of the mining industry. It shows the development of the sector in both technological and organizational terms, and its focus on future resources supply.