PM Dancila: We must seek third markets to increase exports, to attract investment

Romania must seek third markets, such as the Arab countries and China, both in order to increase exports and to attract investment in our country, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said on Friday, in Zalau, north-west Salaj County. "I went to all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, I went to the Gulf countries, I resumed relations with many countries where a prime minister had not been since 1997, 1998. As a result of the discussions we had, (...) as a result of these visits, we started exporting to Arab countries, in Iran we sent 200,000 sheep, we got the veterinary certificate for Kuwait, we will start exporting to Kuwait as well, we will start exporting to the United Arab Emirates. We have signed an agreement on the export of honey (...) to China. In the next period we will sign an agreement on poultry, beef and mutton with China, and it is true that the European market implies a fierce competitiveness, and then we have to find other things too," Dancila told a press conference when asked about the open letter addressed to her by a regional investor who proposed as solution for "saving the Romanian economy" the export re-orientation to third countries, such as the Arab countries and China. At the same time, the prime minister added, the Government is trying to "push ahead" Romanian products. "A first step was to reduce the VAT on organic products and traditional products from 9pct to 5pct, and we must start a highly active promotion campaign abroad. So all of these discussions I had with my counterparts from Arab countries, from Turkey, from China, from other countries, now begin to show results both in terms of export, and once again I say the signer of the letter is right, but also in terms of investment to Romania. I showed that in Romania investments can be made, that we have created a friendly environment for business, that we can talk about predictability and at the same time stability and economic growth, and data from the National Institute of Statistics - 5pct growth in the first quarter of this year - confirms what I said," Dancila added.AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Florea, editor: Andreea Rotaru; EN - author: Bogdan Gabaroi, editor: Simona Iacob)