President Iohannis asks EIB to provide technical assistance to Romania

President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday welcomed a European Investment Bank (EIB) delegation, headed by EIB President Werner Hoyer, at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace, asking EIB to provide technical assistance to Romania and mentioning the importance of a development bank being created to facilitate large investment projects. 

According to a Presidential Administration statement, discussed at the meeting were the results of economic cooperation between Romania and EIB, despite a cut in the funding volume in 2015. The EIB leadership voiced confidence that the funding level will recover soon, as several incomplete projects get completed. 

The statement also shows that the main subject of cooperation between Romania and the European Investment Bank (EIB) regards the investment dimension of the "Junker Plan," conducted through the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). 

"At Romania's President's request, the EIB leadership voiced the bank's entire availability to support Romania by means of technical assistance provided by the bank's specialists in Romania," the statement says. 

President Klaus Iohannis mentioned the importance of creating a development bank as an investment vehicle to facilitate funding large investment projects, a matter on which the EIB leaders also announced their technical support. 

The discussions also covered the national legislative framework of the private-public partnership and means for its improvement, as well as the need for substantial involvement of the private sector in such projects. 

"In the current economic context, in which Romania is recording strong economic growth, the European Investment Bank leadership highlighted the need for Romania to continue its structural reforms, so that it can ensure an as competitive as possible framework for the future economic developments," says the Presidential Administration. AGERPRES