Romania woos China again, seeks infrastructure investment
Romanian prime minister Victor Ponta is on a three days visit to China, the second since he came to power in 2012, seeking to lure investors to a market which is in dire need of money, especially in the developing infrastructure sector.
The Romanian head of government is accompanied by his deputy Liviu Dragnea and ministers Ioan Rus (transport), Daniel Constantin (agriculture) and Constantin Nita (economy). The plane carrying the Romanian delegation flew over the separatist space of Eastern Ukraine, after initially the Romanian media said Russia banned the flight, a claim that was later refuted.
Ponta was yesterday received with a military ceremonial and fire salvos by his Chinese counterpart, Li Keqiang, and is to meet the Chinese president Xi Jinping today. Reminding the audience that Chinese-Romanian diplomatic relations turned 65 this year, Ponta pointed out economic relations are developing very fast.
“This is a moment in which, besides political relations, economic relations are developing very quickly. If in 2013 the bilateral commercial exchange stood at $4 billion, over the first quarter we have an increase of over 30 per cent, an excellent rate of growth. I want to thank you for the support given in developing other projects we established back in Bucharest in the areas of energy, agriculture and infrastructure,” Ponta said. He also voiced optimism that a Bucharest-Beijing direct flight would soon be opened.
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(Romanian prime minister Victor Ponta photo: gov.ro)
