Iohannis: We must develop transport infrastructure at sustained pace

President Klaus Iohannis said on Friday at the Technical Center of the Dacia-Renault group at Titu (southern Dambovita County) that the transport infrastructure needs to be developed at a sustained pace. "It is not enough just for the private initiative to work with the engines revved up, the support of the authorities is also needed, through public policies, which should not only support investment and competitiveness at declarative level. We must develop at a sustained pace the transport infrastructure without which we all stand to lose. In an era of fierce competition in industry and innovation, such centers as the one we are in today, are essential to be and remain competitive. Such investments give young specialists the chance to assert their creativity, but also their talent, in the same conditions of performance as in developed countries. The big global trends of the electric car, the autonomous automobile, are huge opportunities in the global industry that the Romanian invention has the capacity and must capitalise on," the president said at Titu. He stressed that the car industry and the IT industry are the main drivers of the competitiveness of the Romanian economy. "The successful example of the Renault group shows why on a market that is so competitive, Romanian specialists have enough reason to be confident of the chances of professional development our country offers," he said. President Klaus Iohannis awarded Thierry Bollore, Chief Executive Officer, General Manager of Renault Group, with Romania's Star National Order and the Industrial and Commercial Merit order to Nicolas Maure, senior vice president of Renault. "I decided to decorate the management of the Renault Group globally. I thus hail the commitment to further develop the Romanian automotive industry by directing Dacia - Renault to an innovative future," said Klaus Iohannis. "Dacia's success is equally yours, the engineers who designed here, at the Titu Technical Center, the new Duster, a car that is produced daily in more than 1,000 units and which is today the best ambassador of our car industry. It is a remarkable achievement and I would like to congratulate all Dacia-Renault employees because, without their efforts, these performances would not have been possible," the president said. Klaus Iohannis pointed out that over the past ten years, Dacia's turnover has tripled, reaching almost 6 billion euro, showing that Dacia products currently account for about 7pct of Romania's exports. "The Romanian automotive industry is characterized by the most ambitious dynamics in the European Union, Romania reaching the 8th place in the rankings of European car makers. I welcome these developments and I wish you increasingly better results in the years to come!" added Klaus Iohannis.AGERPRES(RO - authors: Florentina Peia, Cornelia Dumitru, editor: Andreea Rotaru; EN - author: Bogdan Gabaroi, editor: Maria Voican)