Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu expressed his hope, during the 248th Independence Day celebration at the United States Embassy on Wednesday, that the United States will become one of the top three foreign investors in the coming years and the leading commercial partner outside Europe.
“At the level of Romanian society, there is a high degree of trust and respect towards the United States. And I believe that this is primarily due to the fact that the security of our citizens is directly ensured through the Strategic Partnership we have with the USA”, said the Prime Minister during the speech at the US Embassy, on the occasion of the 4 of July Reception.
Ciolacu pointed out that “the bilateral relationship we have built is based on the democratic values we share”. “It is a relationship strengthened by Romania’s help for the US efforts in the fight against terrorism, by the support given by the United States for the OECD accession process, as well as by our common membership in NATO and the clear bilateral commitment in support of Ukraine”, said the Romanian PM.
“It is known that Romania owes, in part, its own economic growth to American investments, through the transfer of technology and knowledge achieved. Likewise, the American companies present in Romania owe an important part of their profits to the well-trained staff and the offering business environment in Romania. It is representative, in this sense, that both the number of employees and the profits of American companies with investments in Romania have doubled in the last decade”, the Premier also mentioned.
He reminded that that in 2023, trade between Romania and the USA, boosted mainly by the more than 8,700 commercial companies with American participation in Romania, was over 5.3 billion USD.
“At the same time, trade in services is approaching the threshold of 2 billion dollars. I take this opportunity to welcome the results of the 9th round of the Romania-USA Strategic Dialogue and the emphasis placed during the discussions in June, in Washington, on economic cooperation and in the energy field”, added Ciolacu.
Noting that the”bilateral economic cooperation is a major pillar of our Strategic Partnership, a pillar that has demonstrated its importance for both sides, but whose potential is far from being reached”, the Romanian Prime Minister argued that “there is room for growth and we hope that the United States will reach, in the coming years, at least one of the top three places in the list of foreign investors, and the first place among our commercial partners outside of Europe. In this sense, we are already acting so that the far-reaching projects that we are going to implement together – and I am referring here especially to the Project of Units 3 and 4 from Cernavodă, respectively, to the project of the SMR Power Plant from Doiceşti – open new horizons of cooperation at the regional level”.
The Head of the Executive specified that President Iohannis had already spoken about our cooperation in the military field and about our firm commitment to support Ukraine and strengthen NATO’s Eastern Flank and subscribes to his statements
Marcel Ciolacu also welcomed the emphasis placed by the US Embassy in Bucharest, and by Mrs. Ambassador Kavalec on the cinematographic industry, not only by choosing the theme of this event, but also in the discussions he had since her arrival in Bucharest .
“The potential of this industry to contribute to Romania’s economic growth but, above all, to strengthen Romania’s image at the level of the American and world public must be exploited”, the PM pointed out.
“Romania is a state in continuous growth and transformation. It is a state deeply engaged in the process of internal reforms intended to lead not only to substantial economic growth, but also to a better life for the Romanian people. The efforts we make in this line also aim at a deeper integration of our country on the global market. From this point of view, the process of accession to the OECD and the prospect of access to the Visa Waiver program will lead to a substantial increase in foreign investments in Romania, strengthening, at the same time, the confidence of American entrepreneurs in our country. We continue to count on the support of the US for the fulfillment of these important objectives”, the prime minister also underlined, assuring the US Ambassador and the USA that “Romania will continue to be an open partner and determined to contribute to the strengthening of our Strategic Partnership, with positive results at the bilateral, regional and transatlantic level”.
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