Hurduc: Connectivity, the core of economic and trade exchanges in South-East Europe

Minister of Innovation and Research Nicolae Hurduc participated, in Sarajevo, in the Summit of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), on which occasion the Romanian dignitary underscored that, by promoting digitization and connectivity alongside the development of research and innovation, the EU and the South-Eastern European region can improve competitiveness of its economy and industry. The Minister showed that the Romanian Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the EU included connectivity among its priorities, "which must represent the central point of economic and trade exchanges in the region, including between the region and the EU," read a press release of the Ministry of Innovation and Research on Wednesday. Moreover, the Romanian dignitary pointed out that Romania's fundamental foreign policy objective in what concerns South-East Europe is to ensure that the whole region can become part of the European and Euro-Atlantic structures, in line with the aspirations of the South-Eastern European countries. "During its mandate at the EU Council Presidency, Romania paid a lot of attention to the advancement of the enlargement process as a prerequisite for stability, security and prosperity in the region and in the entire Europe. In all the steps that we took to support enlargement during our mandate, we were guided by the belief that this is one of the most successful EU policies, with a strong transformational power for societies and economies," Hurduc said, according to the same source. The Romanian official named regional cooperation as an essential tool for sustaining the European integration effort, "with the capacity to design its reforming power in terms of common standards and values in the region." He also reiterated the importance that Romania attaches to the strategic communication of the EU in the region, highlighted the "particular attention" given by Bucharest to the developments in the Republic of Moldova and congratulated the authorities in Chisinau for overcoming the political crisis and the investiture of the new government. The Summit of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) was organized by Bosnia and Herzegovina as the SEECP Chairmanship-in-Office. AGERPRES (RO - author: Catalin Alexandru, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - author: Cristina Zaharia, editor: Adina Panaitescu)