In his welcome speech, Dr. Rusnák gave a brief overview of the key factors shaping the world of energy today and in that context introduced the Energy Charter. As a speaker in the session on Strategy and Prospects, he focused on the contribution of the Energy Charter Treaty to international cooperation and common rules for energy and its relevance as a common legal framework to the goal of energy security. The Secretary General also highlighted the Treaty's significant potential in supporting low-carbon energy and stimulating the overall low-carbon economic approach.

The session on Energy Policy was co-chaired by the Secretariat's Director for Trade and Transit, Mr. Steivan Defilla. Here the discussion centred on the difficult task of successfully combining green policies and market mechanisms to produce a viable policy framework for the reduction of global carbon emissions.

While in Geneva, Dr. Rusnák also held meetings with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Mr. Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the United Nations (UN) Office in Geneva Mr. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and the Director of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Sustainable Energy Division Mr. Scott Foster. In Bern, the Secretary General spoke with the Director of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), State Secretary Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch; the Head of the Sectoral Foreign Policies Division of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), Amb. Giancarlo Kessler; and the Head of Environment and Energy Policy at SECO, Ms. Marie-Thérèse Niggli. The discussion during these meetings focused on the modernisation of the Energy Charter Process, ongoing membership consolidation and the future directions of the Energy Charter Secretariat's activities.