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Ponta on U.S. visit to meet Vice President Biden, state secretaries for energy, commerce
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta will pay an official visit to the United States on Oct. 21-23, with the agenda of the visit featuring meetings with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden at the White House, the state secretaries for energy and commerce as well as executives of U.S. companies ExxonMobil, Chevron, Motorola, IBM and HP.
'I think it is very important and strategic for Romania to keep, to consolidate and to offer a future prospect to our special relation, to our strategic partnership with the United States of America', Ponta said at Victoria Palace (the Govt's offices) on Friday.
The prime minister will be accompanied by the Romanian ministers of energy, foreign affairs, environment and education on his official visit to U.S.
Ponta underscored it is for the first time in 10 years that a Romanian prime minister goes on such a visit.
'Our objectives are to reaffirm the political and military strategic partnership and the prospects for cooperation in the period ahead, but also the economic partnership, since the visit also has an important economic side, namely meetings with the representatives of the major companies having already invested in Romania or possibly have investment plans; I am speaking of three important fields: energy, IT and the modern equipment and engineering industry. We will also have meetings at the Congress with those representatives directly tasked with modifying the legislation that will, in the future, allow Romania to be included in the Visa Waiver programme', he added.
The highlights of the prime minister's visit to the U.S. include a meeting with the ExxonMobil, Chevron, Motorola, IBM and HP executives, followed by two meetings with the state secretaries for commerce and energy (on Monday), a meeting with the World Bank president and the official White House meeting with Vice President Biden (on Tuesday); a ceremony for signing the cooperation agreement with the Holocaust museum will be held on Wednesday.
'On returning from this visit, we can consider that the relations between the United States of America and Romania keep the positive direction of the last years and that this strategic partnership produces its beneficial effects for both parties', Ponta stressed.
He underscored that there will be no businessmen in the Romanian official delegation.
When asked whether he is considering the possibility of meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama too, the premier explained that the meeting level is president-to-president and since the United States do not have a prime minister, he will meet Vice President Joe Biden.
As regards reports that the U.S. troops could use a military base in Romania as an intermediary point in their pull-out from Afghanistan, Ponta explained there already is an extremely advanced level of cooperation as regards the missile shield, the multi-purpose jets to be procured by the Romanian Army under a contract signed this year and the collaboration agreement on using the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base.
'I will communicate you any other subsequent agreements that are not governed by confidentiality', the prime minister said.
President Basescu: Visit of Premier to the U.S. must be seen as positive
The agreement in principle was given for the repatriation of troops and military hardware from Afghanistan, of the U.S. Army, to be made through Romania, said President Traian Basescu, context in which he mentioned that the visit Prime Minister Victor Ponta is to pay to the United States must be seen in a positive way.
'I would ask you to consider positively this event. Me, neither am a supporter of Ponta . (...) But this is about an interest. It's our interest and the U.S., as well . Think that we start the investment in October, actually now, at Deveselu site (south- west of the country - editor's note) for the anti-missile shield. We are in advanced discussions and the agreement in principle was given to the U.S. Army for the return of troops and military hardware from Afghanistan to be made through Romania, due to the termination of the contract they had with Kazakhstan. It's a process that will go far beyond my term, both the importance of Deveselu, which is probably to be completed by the end of my mandate, and the transfer of troops from Afghanistan ', Basescu told B1 TV on Friday in relation to the visit of Premier Ponta to the U.S..
According to the President , Romania is also important for the U.S. due to the Port of Constanta, adding that Mayor Radu Mazare wants this one.
'There are things to be discussed, the protection of this site at Deveselu , protection for the troops in transit from Afghanistan to the U.S. through Kogalniceanu and the Port of Constanta . So, from the point of view of Romania's national interests it is extremely important. As far as I know, the Minister of Defence should be at the Pentagon today or tomorrow, because the agreement in principle is given for the transfer of troops from Afghanistan, but technicalities must be established. I believe it is very useful , because these things are things that exceed my mandate, which comes to an end', Basescu explained.
He also talked about the importance of American investments in Romania, giving the example of Exxon that brought the latest deep-sea drilling technology to the Black Sea, but also the presence of Ford Co..
'Areas where things did not move, and I hope the Premier discuss them now and make them move are the research ones. There, we also have a transfer of technology, all right , with Chevron, with Exxon, with Ford and not only, with Lufkin, which produces deep well oil extraction pumps close to Ploiesti , but we are lagging behind in the zone of research and I 'd like to see that there are some scholarships, smaller or larger, for the very good Romanian students, to attend American universities, to work in research laboratories along great American professors. I look forward to such a thing', Basescu added.