PM Ciuca, EconMin Spataru meet with MEDEF representatives

Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and Minister of Economy Florin Marian Spataru met on Thursday with representatives of MEDEF (Mouvement des Entreprises de France), an organization that brings together over 75 pct of the French companies, who voiced the desire to invest in Romania's economy, in areas that would generate development and new jobs, the government informed in a press release sent to AGERPRES.

"I appreciate the significant presence of French investors in our country and I thank them for their substantial contribution to the development of the local economy. The government has allocated for investments a budget of 18 billion euros this year. Together with the 80 billion euros, European money allocated for the next years, these resources are essential for infrastructure projects, digitization, green energy, education and support for the resilience of Romania's economy," PM Ciuca said.

He stressed that the Romanian authorities are preoccupied with creating an investment and business climate "as attractive as possible", mentioning the opportunities Romania can offer as a future member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The 38 members, 23 of whom are European, are developed countries, accounting for over 70 pct of global production and trade and 90 pct of the world level of foreign direct investment. On the other hand, Romania's economic evolution shows that, in its 15 years as an EU member state, the Gross Domestic Product has tripled and the GDP per capita has increased fourfold, the press release states.

The discussions highlighted the importance of investing in areas such as nuclear energy, civil protection, the environment or infrastructure. The sides also discussed the mutual benefits that close economic cooperation could have in terms of modernising transport infrastructure, as well as in terms of combating air pollution in urban agglomerations and possible solutions to accelerate digitisation.

"Among the sectors of industry identified as having significant potential are the microelectronics industry, for which the Ministry of Economy prepares projects worth 500 million euros through PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) - this investment supporting the EU's approach to become a net exporter of semiconductors, the development of industrial and technological relations between the two countries by creating an environment conducive to the development of the circular economy, for the use of new technologies in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions," reads the government's release.

According to him, in the context of investments in the integrated circuits industry and the microelectronics industry, the sides talked about creating premises for the participation of Romanian companies in the field in the European objectives of developing the European ecosystem through PNRR, facilitating Romania's involvement in a large-scale project that brings together over 100 companies in Europe.