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US deputy ambassador remarks Romanian public increasingly less tolerant of corruption
Deputy chief of the US diplomatic mission to Romania Abigail Rupp on Thursday told a conference hosted by the Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca that Romania must continue the fight against corruption, which will help attract investors.
When we are asked what is the best thing to do to increase the value of American investments, we reply that the fight against corruption must continue. We remarked that last year the Romanian public has become increasingly less tolerant of corruption and I think we need to work together to encourage public institutions to keep on making progress in this area, Abigail Rupp said in remarks delivered at the conference organized by the Citadel think-tank of the Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj.
The American diplomat also mentioned that Romania's progress in this area has turned it into a regional leader and reiterated that 242 high-ranking officials have been charged between 2014 and 2016 and 142 of them have also been convicted.
Rupp also talked about the strategic partnership between Romania and the US and about the importance of security as part of this cooperation, referring to Romania's contribution to the operations in Afghanistan, Iraq or other international alliances.
The American diplomat also approached in her speech economic or educational aspects of the Romania - US cooperation, mentioning that Romania's yearly exports to the US are worth over two billion dollars and imports from the US increased by 40 percent in 2017. According to Abigail Rupp, the US is currently the sixth largest foreign investor in Romania.
Abigail Rupp attended on Thursday the debate titled "The 100th Anniversary of President Woodrow Wilson's 14-Point Speech. The European Order: Now and Then," held at the Faculty for European Studies of the Babes-Bolyai University.