DefMin Fifor says serious debate sought on Romania's defence industry switching authority

Defence Minister Mihai Fifor said on Thursday that he wants an as serious a debate as possible on a legislative initiative on Romania's defence industry switching from the authority of the Ministry of Economy to that of the Defence Ministry. 

"This is a legislative initiative that in fact passed through the Senate, in the last two weeks, if I am not mistaken. At the moment, it is undergoing specific procedures with the specialist committees of the Chamber of Deputies. There were again very important and interesting discussions within the Defence Committee with defence industry representatives, trade unions and representatives of PATROMIL. We really want to have a serious debate on this legislative initiative," said Fifor at the end of a ceremony naming the Military Technical Academy in Bucharest Ferdinand I. 

He considers that on such basis the Romanian defence industry should be re-established on new foundations. 

"Because we are not talking about just another simple administrative shift in production capacity, which I believe is very important to Romania, from one ministry to another. We are talking about how the Romanian defence industry has ultimately to be re-established on new foundations. By using some of the defence spending to the tune of two percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), we are trying to plough back into the Romanian defence industry an as high as possible amount under military acquisition projects for the Romanian armed forces," said Fifor. 

He added that this project is a lasting one.