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EBRD Board Directors visit Romania
A delegation of the EBRD Board of Directors arrives in Romania on Sunday for a
5-day visit that involves meetings with Prime Minister Calin Popescu
Tariceanu, Minister of Finance and EBRD Governor Sebastian Vladescu, Central
Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu, Mayors of Cluj and Sibiu, Emil Boc and Klaus
Werner Johannis, as well as county heads of both cities. They will also meet
with local and foreign business leaders, representatives from the
international community in Romania and will visit projects in which the EBRD
has invested.
Board representatives include Joachim Schwarzer, for Germany; Carole Garnier,
for the European Commission; David Martinez Hornillos, for Spain and Mexico;
Hedva Ber, for Israel, Austria, Cyprus, Malta, Kazakhstan, and Bosnia and
Herzegovina; Hiroyuki Kubota, for Japan; Laszlo Andor, for Hungary, Czech
Republic, Slovak Republic and Croatia; Josè Veiga de Macedo, for Portugal and
Greece, and Virginia Gheorghiu, for Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and
Armenia. They will be accompanied by Hildegard Gacek, EBRD Director for
Romania.
Ahead of the visit, Joachim Schwarzer, spokesperson for the Delegation, said
the aim of the visit is to underline the EBRD's commitment to Romania. The
Bank is ready to increase its activities in Romania even after its accession
to the EU on 1 January 2007, based on previous experience working with the
countries that joined the EU in 2004. In addition to working with the private
sector, supporting Greenfield projects, and working in regions and
municipalities, for example, a stronger grass-roots’ entrepreneurialism is
needed, said Mr Schwarzer. To help support this, the Board is considering a
new €85 million facility, together with the government and EU, specifically
for micro and small businesses, he added.
The EBRD is the largest single investor in Romania, with more than €3.2
billion invested in over 117 projects ranging sectors from agribusiness to
banking and infrastructure to supporting small and medium-sized enterprises.
Working with its partners from the public and private sector, the Bank has
mobilised around €6.1 billion in additional investments.
The Board of Directors approves all Bank investments and represents its 62
shareholders - 60 countries plus the European Community and the European
Investment Bank.
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