PM Ponta: Romania's growth rate makes French PM envious

Even the French PM envies Romania's growth rate, Prime Minister Victor Ponta told the representatives of the SNR Rulmenti bearing making company on the Western Industrial Zone of Sibiu (272 kilometers north-west of Bucharest) on Wednesday.

'Romania is a country with a high development pace. Our economic growth rate raises the envy of my colleague, [French] Prime Minister Manuel Valls; nevertheless, it's important that French investments in Romania are highly significant and much appreciated,' Ponta said.

He promised his support to the French investor in Sibiu.

'When I say support, I mean concrete things that might increase your competitiveness. I am glad that the Ministry of Finance has approved the state aid request; I keep explaining that the state aid is not a donation from the state and that the state gets back more than it gives, through taxes and job creation. It is the best possible way of investing state's money,' the PM explained.

He also guaranteed the manager of SNR Rulmenti that important investments would go to the motorways linking Sibiu to the country.

'Secondly, I wish to guarantee that Sibiu, the place where you decided to come ten years ago, is already, and will be highly advanced, as a region, in terms of infrastructure investments. By the end of 2015, the motorway to the Hungarian border will be functional. We started the works on the northern sector linking you to Cluj-Napoca, another major city of Transylvania; the main infrastructure investments from funds allocated to Romania [by the EU] over the 2014-2020 period definitely concern Sibiu — both the southward motorway to Pitesti, where your products must be delivered to another company that makes Romania's and France's pride, Dacia...