RSS
PM Grindeanu: Romania is ready to start accession talks with OECD
Romania is ready to start accession talks with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as soon as possible as reconfirmation of the economic growth and development levels reached by it, but in order to do so it needs support form external partners as well, according to Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu.
"Romania has recorded constant progress that sped up over the past years to assimilate the OECD instruments, while at the same time taking part in the global working structures of the organisation. We are getting actively consulted and we are interested in even closer cooperation with the OECD in many key areas, such as macroeconomic policies, corporate governance, liberalisation of capital flows, migration and many other areas. (...) Romania is ready to start accession talks with the OECD as soon as possible. OECD membership will reconfirm the economic progress and development levels attained by Romania. It will mean a more efficient public administration that is more attuned to the demands of a global world. We strongly believe that this can happen quite soon. We are aware of the process difficulty and we are ready to do our best in the process," Grindeanu told the beginning of a conference called "Romania and OECD, present and future projections" hosted by the National Bank of Romania (BNR).
He added that in order to achieve the OECD membership objective, Romania will need support from external partners that are OECD member states.
"In order to achieve that, we need more than just the wish of our country; we also need support from our external partners that are OECD member states on which we want to be able to count to achieve our objective. I believe we can fully grasp the wide support from the business community, Parliament, BNR and opinion makers of Romania," added Grindeanu.
He went on to say that Romania finds itself in a very favourable economic moment witnessing economic growth that the EU statistics office Eurostat puts at 5.6 percent in Q1 2017, seasonally adjusted.
"Romania has the highest economic growth in the European Union. Moreover, its exports are at record levels, which reflects high competitiveness of Romanian products. This March, goods were exported worth 5.6 billion euros, the highest monthly export figures ever in Romania. At the same time, Q1 2017 foreign direct investment totalled 1.075 billion euros, up almost 23 percent from the same period of the year before," said Grindeanu.
He added that this performance does not mean relaxation, but keeping up the growth rate at a sustainable and responsible level.
"That does not mean that we can relax now, rest on our laurels. On the contrary, we know that we have to keep up the pace and we also know that the growth should be achieved in a solid, sustainable and responsible way. That is why I believe we must conduct vital reforms by assimilating the best existing practices and standards, and as far as they are concerned the OECD is the known leader of global economic governance with which we want to cooperate. We have already taken important steps, and as I was saying, we want the dynamics to continue and amplify," added Grindeanu.
According to presidential adviser Cosmin Marinescu, Romania can act ambitiously on an international level through its bid for Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) membership.
"The process of accession to the OECD can be a reform in itself, providing the objective, clear image on Romania's favourable situation, at the same time, testing the implementation of the OECD benchmarks on an economic, social and administrative level. We thus have the ideal theme context to discuss integration and convergence, as a filiation of ideas dominating the evolution of the modern society. The integrationist phenomenon seems to be the one that currently foreshadows the dynamics and the sense of convergence, in spite of some timely bursts of nationalism and protectionism. (...) The membership bid to the OECD is an excellent framework in which Romania can act ambitiously on an international level," Marinescu told a conference called "Romania and OECD, present and future projections" hosted by the National Bank of Romania (BNR), according to the Presidential Administration.
The presidential adviser underscored that the OECD has a very important role in the international economic cooperation, adding that the current monetary policies are increasingly more interdependent worldwide.