Sarajevo, March 1^st 2016 - The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) jointly hosted the kick-off meeting of the Balkans Bioenergy Task Force (BBTF). The main goal of the BBTF is to provide a permanent regional dialogue and an advocacy platform for more structured regional cooperation and networking in the field of bioenergy. Further mobilization of national decision makers and political structures and the removal of regulatory barriers for the utilisation of bioenergy as an important energy resource are also in the focus of the Task Force.

The BBTF intends to work towards a wider involvement and ownership of interested parties in the discussions and decisions related to alternative energy sources in South East Europe. Today’s meeting, which took place in the RCC premises in Sarajevo, was also attended by representatives of UNDP Bosnia and Herzegovina, FAO Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Green Energy Cooperative from Croatia. The GIZ was represented by its ”Development of a Sustainable Bioenergy Market in Serbia” programme. The next meeting of the BBTF is expected to take place in Zagreb in mid-April 2016.