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Ciuca: We want to conclude a new agreement on providing non-reimbursable financial assistance to the Republic of Moldova
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said that following talks with Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita on Thursday, he expressed, among other things, his 'wish to conclude a new agreement on providing non-reimbursable financial assistance to the Republic of Moldova, establishing, at the same time, the organization of a new meeting of the two governments at the beginning of next year.
"Today's talks set the concrete benchmarks of our cooperation in the coming period on the basis of the Strategic Partnership for European Integration of the Republic of Moldova and starting from the community of language, culture and history. We also start from the Roadmap on priority areas of Romania-Republic of Moldova cooperation, signed on the sidelines of the visit of the President [of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu] and which lists all sectoral initiatives of priority interest," Nicolae Ciuca told the press in a joint statement alongside his counterpart from Chisinau.
He added that the Moldovan Prime Minister's visit to Bucharest marks the continuation of the joint effort to implement the bilateral agenda, which is "ambitious and forward-looking".
"We have decided, in fact, to have an intense, pragmatic and efficient conclusion, not only at the level of prime ministers, but also at the level of each member of the Government," Ciuca added.
The head of the Bucharest Executive stated that during the talks he thanked his Moldovan counterpart for the special support provided by the medical teams from the Republic of Moldova in November, in the context of a virulent wave 4 of the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania.
According to him, the discussions were "very applied" on "a wide range of topics".
"We have highlighted the common interest in expanding economic cooperation. We have an excellent starting point, Romania is the first trading partner of the Republic of Moldova. We want, however, much more, we support the consolidation of Romanian investments in the Republic of Moldova and this will require improving the business environment in the Republic of Moldova, so that it will be more attractive for Romanian investors and not only," Ciuca added.
He pointed out that the bilateral agenda is a "rich" one, with "clear and impactful projects" for the citizens on both banks of the Prut.
"We want to conclude a new agreement on the granting of non-reimbursable financial assistance for the benefit of the Republic of Moldova as soon as possible. The former agreement, signed in 2010, expired this year, in March, but we have committed and together we will make efforts, so that we can prolong its validity," Ciuca said.
Other priority topics for the two countries are energy interconnection and the implementation of infrastructure projects.
"I am referring here to the interconnection of power lines between Romania and the Republic of Moldova. We are also pursuing the implementation of infrastructure projects with a central role in connecting the Republic of Moldova to the European space, through Romania, with special emphasis on the consolidation of the Galati-Giurgiulesti road bridge," Ciuca explained.
He said that another topic of interest that was discussed was the reduction of roaming charges.
"In this regard, we encourage discussions at the level of regulators and mobile operators in the two states to find solutions as soon as possible," he added.
The Romanian Prime Minister also mentioned the other areas of interest for the development of joint projects: justice and home affairs, health, education, labor, agriculture, research, culture, environment, water and forestry, as well as official development assistance.
"These are, therefore, projects with a positive impact for all citizens, supporting the process of reform and their approach, development and modernization. At the same time, these actions are of strategic relevance if we consider, for example, the actions aimed at increasing resilience through consolidating energy security. These projects are designed to strengthen the European path of the Republic of Moldova, to reaffirm its membership in the set of values on which the European Union is founded, to support the efforts of the Moldovan authorities to sustainably increase the standard of living of the population, firmly combating corruption, the consolidation of the rule of law, the modernization of the administration and the education system or the increase of the resilience of the health system," Ciuca also stated.
Last but not least, the Romanian Prime Minister announced that he had agreed with the Chief Executive of Chisinau to organize a joint meeting of the two governments at the beginning of next year.
"We have agreed with Prime Minister Gavrilita to meet soon, at the beginning of next year, for a new joint meeting of the two governments. In the remaining time, we will work closely for the accelerated advancement of bilateral projects in key areas. There is openness and an unprecedented climate of trust in bilateral relations. We understand that we must make the most of this window of opportunity, as well as the dynamic dialogue at the presidential, parliamentary and governmental levels," Ciuca added.
(Photo: https://www.gov.ro/)