diplomacy
As Norwegian investments in Romania stand at around 300 million Euro and last year's bilateral trade amounted to 530 million Euro, the two countries have great potential for closer cooperation, according to Øystein Hovdkinn, the Norwegian Ambassador to Romania. "My embassy will do its utmost to support this potential being better exploited," he said, emphasizing that the maritime industry, an area of special expertise in Norway, has attracted a large part of the Norwegian investments in Romania.
US Vice President Joe Bidens mission to Bucharest last month, bookended by stops in Warsaw and Prague, was meant to reaffirm US commitments to the region. These commitments were recently put into question after the Obama administration announced a reversal of policy on the proposed antiballistic missile-defense shield.
Coming to Romania in mid April, Estanislao de Grandes Pascual, the Spanish Ambassador to Romania, was pleasantly surprised at how well this country presents itself, even
than he had expected. Now, six months into his mandate in Romania, he keeps the same positive impression about Romania, despite having little time yet to travel around the country.
After 17 years experience as a staff member inside the US Senate, Mark Gitenstein has turned a new page in his professional career by accepting the nomination as the new US Ambassador to Romania. Ambassador Gitensteina
While similarities between two very different countries in size may seem unlikely, Dagmar Repcekova, the Slovak Republic’s Ambassador to Romania, suggests quite the opposite. Referring to the effects of the glabal financial crisis, she pointed out that Romania and Slovakia have many things in common. “Both countries have very strong business links with large western European countries, such as Germany and France, which have been seriously affected by the crisis,” she said, adding that most banks in both Slovakia and Romania are subsidiaries of foreign financial institutions.
Ayse Sinirlioglu, Turkish Ambassador to Romania, declares herself impressed by “the beautiful and unspoiled landscape” of parts of Romania she has had the opportunity to visit. More important, she believes the economic potential of the country will continue to attract Turkish investment.
