ForMin Aurescu meets AMRO head Stewart, discusses regional strategic projects Rail2Sea, Via Carpathia

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, on Thursday welcomed Eric Stewart, the head of the Romanian-American Business Council (AMRO), on the occasion of the visit that an AMRO delegation is carrying out in Romania, the two discussing regional strategic projects, informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a press release sent to AGERPRES.

Henry Homans, Vice President of AMRO, also attended the meeting.

During the meeting, they discussed concrete ways of promoting the common objective of developing partnerships, investments and trade exchanges between Romania and the USA, and exchanged views on the priority regional strategic projects promoted by Romania for connecting the north and south of the Three Seas region, Rail2Sea and Via Carpathia, including the importance of involving the US private sector and the US Administration in their implementation.

Minister Aurescu highlighted "the strategic importance of expanding the US economic presence in Romania and in the region, in order to reach at least the level of excellence achieved in the political and military fields and in security cooperation," the MAE release said. The President of AMRO showed his willingness to present these projects to major US companies operating in infrastructure.

The head of the Romanian diplomacy also spoke about such topics important from a transatlantic view, as addressed at the meeting of the NATO foreign ministers and of the Foreign Affairs Council, in which he participated in the recent days in Brussels. He recalled the meeting he had with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on which occasion they addressed issues of priority interest regarding the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the USA.

According to the MAE, Bogdan Aurescu highlighted the Government's priority in terms of our country's accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an objective constantly supported by AMRO and relevant for foreign investors and external partners of Romanian companies.

Eric Stewart conveyed AMRO's appreciation for the dense programme of meetings with the Romanian private sector, ministries and governmental institutions that the delegation had during its visit to Romania, "which is expected to be a success," the same source said. He also confirmed AMRO's intention to support, in dialogue with the US Administration, the need to strengthen cooperation with Romania, including in the economic field, and to support Romania's candidacy to the OECD.