Speaker Dragnea, UAE State Minister Sultan Ahmad Al Jaber discuss promotion of investment potential

The opportunity to promote Romania's investment potential, with focus on the tourism industry, was on the agenda of the talks held on Tuesday at the Palace of Parliament between Chamber of Deputies Speaker Liviu Dragnea and the Minister of State for Economic and Trade Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, Dr. Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber.

The meeting was aimed at breathing new life and strengthening the traditional ties between the two countries by implementing concrete projects capable to diversify the portfolio of trade relations and expand cooperation on new sectors of the economy, the Chamber of Deputies said in a release.

"I want this visit to be a starting point for another stage of bilateral relations, where we should explore economic cooperation development areas. There are common interests, their future evolution is important, starting from realistic, pragmatic bases," the Chamber of Deputies' Speaker said at the beginning of the meeting.

The foreign official expressed interest in strengthening cooperation in the field of agriculture, to which the Romanian side presented the significant progress made in this sector, that uses modern technology to maximize production yields. The areas of potential interest for UAE investors mentioned by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies were irrigations and vegetable production, because Romania's substantial production represents a resource that could be capitalized upon in supply and processing networks, resulting in value-added products.

The talks were an opportunity to promote the investment potential of Romania, which, thanks to its strategic position and access to pan-European transport channels, offers UAE businesspeople the opportunity to develop partnerships in key sectors such as agriculture, energy or transport, the cited source said.

Regarding the major investment opportunities, the talks focused on the Danube - Bucharest Canal project, which would also include a transport hub in the south of the Capital, as well as the development of road infrastructure through direct investments in the motorway system.

Another topic tackled during the meeting was tourism, an industry with a significant contribution to the budget of the United Arab Emirates. In this context, the Romanian dignitary expressed the desire of the Bucharest authorities to benefit from the Emirates' know-how in this sector, stressing that Romania has excellent opportunities for the development of mountain, spa, or Black Sea tourism.

Cooperation in the medical field was another point on the agenda of the meeting, with the Romanian official presenting the plans of the ruling coalition to build 8 regional hospitals and a Republican Hospital.

Both sides agreed that the organization of the first session of the Romania - UAE Joint Cooperation Committee is a clear signal of the common interest in recalibrating bilateral relations in order to explore the identified cooperation niches.

From this perspective, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies emphasized that it is essential to closely monitor the undertaken commitments and the initiatives emerged during consultations these days so as to achieve concrete results in the medium and long-term.

A UAE delegation, including Khadim Al Daree - Vice Chairman of Al Dahra Holding, Humaid Ben Salem - Secretary General of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Ahmed Matar Aimazrouei - senior advisor - Mubadala, and Saeed Al Shamsi - senior manager - Government Affairs - DP World, participated on Monday and Tuesday in the session of the Romania - United Arab Emirates Joint Cooperation Committee where five agreements were signed in the field of agriculture, culture, sports, mass media and foreign affairs. AGERPRES (RO - author: Cătălina Matei, editor: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Simona Iacob)