EBRD: Transport infrastructure, probably weakest areas of Romanian business milieu
Transport Minister Felix Stroe (centre) met at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) headquarters in London with the bank’s Managing Director for infrastructure Jean-Patrick Marquet (second left), the latter expressing his commitment to cooperate for the development of Romania’s road infrastructure which he called one of the weakest points of the Romanian business milieu, according to the relevant ministry’s press release issued on Monday.
The talks tackled the transport general strategy, road construction and railway projects. The parties also discussed about the financing of the East-West planned motorway due to connect north-eastern Iasi to centre-north Targu-Mures, also line no 6 of Bucharest’s underground railway network, in its planning stage, due to connect the Northern Railway Station to Henri Coanda International Airport, as well as railway modernisation projects.
Granting technical assistance so as to improve the performance and the efficiency of state enterprises in the transport sector was also taken into account.
Jean-Patrick Marquet took note of Romania’s accelerated economic growth and added that “the transport infrastructure probably constitutes one of the weakest areas of the business milieu in the country but it is essential to Romania’s development. We are certain we have established a very solid foundation for the future cooperation in this crucial economic sector, he added.
EBRD is one of Romania’s main investors, with 7.5 billion euro supplying approximately 400 projects in the country. In 2017, the bank signed more than 20 projects worth over 400 million euro.
According to EBRD’s most recent economic forecast, Romania’s economic growth will increase by 5.3 percent this year and by 4.2 percent in 2018, recording a growth rate comparable to the one in the period preceding the mid-2000 crisis.
