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Romania’s Transport Minister in working visit to EBRD

Author: Olga Rosca

Meetings focus on urgent need for infrastructure financing

Underlining his country’s commitment to developing urgently needed infrastructure, Romania’s new Transport Minister Felix Stroe paid a working visit to the EBRD today.

At the Bank’s Headquarters in London, Minister Stroe met EBRD Managing Director for Infrastructure Jean-Patrick Marquet. Both sides underlined their commitment to working together to develop Romania’s priority infrastructure projects.

Discussions focused on the transport master plan, road-building and projects in the railway sector. The parties discussed financing for the planned East-West motorway, which will connect the city of Iași in eastern Romania with Târgu Mureș in the north-central region; the planned Bucharest Metro Line M6, which will link the capital’s northern railway station, Gara de Nord, to the Henri Coandă International Airport; and projects to modernise the railway sector.

They also considered technical assistance to improve the performance and efficiency of state-owned enterprises in the transport sector.

Jean-Patrick Marquet welcomed Romania’s strongly growing economy. He added: “Transport infrastructure probably constitutes one of the weakest areas of the business environment in the country but is vital for Romania’s development. We are certain that today we established a very strong basis for future cooperation in this crucial economic sector.”

Minister Stroe said: “In particular, we need the EBRD’s experience and expertise in restructuring state-owned enterprises, to make them more efficient and effective and help them meet the private sector’s performance levels.”

The EBRD is a leading investor in Romania and to date has invested €7.5 billion in some 400 projects in the country.  In 2017, the Bank has signed more than 20 projects worth a total of over €400 million.

According to the EBRD’s latest economic forecast, Romania’s economy will grow at 5.3 per cent this year and 4.2 per cent in 2018, enjoying a growth rate comparable to the pre-crisis levels of the mid-2000s.