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PM Ciolos: We are working on finishing touches to Romania's territorial developed strategy
The government is working on finishing touches to Romania's territorial developed strategy that is designed to secure balance between rural and urban areas, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos told the opening of the Local Public Administration Forum in Bucharest on Monday.
"About local economic development, from our perspective, there are some key components we should have in mind to secure a development balance between the rural and urban areas in the shape of an integrated vision of territorial and economic development, so as to secure the development in the future of urban areas, metropolitan ones included, and the countryside, which we may deal with in a uniform instead of biased manner. We have that in mind now when we are adding the finishing touches to Romania's territorial development strategy, on which work started years ago and that has been tergiversated. We are now able to put on your working table and for this debate the integrated territorial development strategy also called 'Polycentric Romania ahead of 2035,' which we would like to be a uniform framework for the long-term territorial development of Romania so as to have a balanced development approach of Romania's territory where intercommunal cooperation is stimulated, where cooperation between urban and poly-urban areas is stimulated, to secure connection between communications and infrastructure of the entire territory of the country and also to generate opportunities that are as much balanced and equal as possible for all the country's regions for furthering economic activities," Ciolos told the Local Public Administration Forum.
He also warned that an integrated, visionary approach of Romania's territorial development is needed.
According to him, more clarity is needed in respect to the manner in which the financial resources are used at the level of local authorities, pointing out that there are cases of waste, incompetence, and even corruption that lead to the inefficient use of these funds.
"We have obvious budget constraints, which do not come from austerity, as some like to say, claiming that the Government is coming up gain with austerity policies. This is not the case. Our budget resources are limited because we have also taken certain fiscal relaxation measures, meant to stimulate the economic environment. But, generally, irrespective of the amount of financial resources the Government would have, they must be spent efficiently and transparently. That is why we need more clarity in the manner in which resources at the Government's disposal are earmarked to the local authorities and particularly how we track their efficient use. Unfortunately, we also see cases of waste, incompetence, even corruption, which lead to the inefficient use of these funds," Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos told the opening of the Local Public Administration Forum, taking place at the Palace of Parliament.
The Prime Minister pointed out that in respect to public money spending four principles must be taken into account, namely equity, efficiency, transparency and responsibility.