Romania gets new terms as BSEC country coordinator

A Romanian delegation headed by Secretary of State for Global Bilateral Affairs Monica Gheorghita, attended the 38th meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (CMAE) of the Black Sea Economic Co-operation (BSEC) organisation held in Yerevan, where a symbolic ceremony was held to hand over the BSEC Chairmanship-in-Office Azerbaijan, according to the Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE).

At the meeting, the ministerial council adopted a decision to appoint Romania country coordinator for health and pharmaceuticals (2018-2020) and tourism (2020-2022).

According to MAE, the meeting of the BSEC Ministerial Council allowed for a stock-taking on the projects and initiatives related to intergovernmental economic co-operation in the Black Sea region, launched under the Armenian chairmanship-in-office in the first half of 2018.

"State Secretary Monica Gheorghita praised the progress made by the Armenian chairmanship-in-office under its tenure in fulfilling its agenda priorities, which helped strengthen regional dialogue and economic co-operation at regional level. She also reaffirmed Romania's firm commitment to stimulating regional intergovernmental economic co-operation to provide substance to the development of good-neighbourly relations with states in the wider Black Sea region and to contribute to ensuring regional security and stability by fostering genuine dialogue among the BSEC member states."

The Romanian official mentioned Romania's pro-active contribution to sectoral activities inside the BSEC, especially to the development of projects in relevant areas of common interest where Romania is country coordinator, namely institutional reform and good governance, transport, transfrontier crime and emergency assistance.

"The ministerial council adopted, at the meeting, a decision to appoint Romania as a country for health and pharmaceuticals (2018-2020) and tourism (2020-2022), with State Secretary Monica Gheorghita reiterated Romania's willingness to share expertise and good practices to advance the implementation of the strategic guidelines under the BSEC Economic Agenda 2012. In this context, she voiced support for the importance of strengthening the BSEC-EU interaction in a pragmatic and flexible manner, saying that the partnership with the EU could contribute to boosting regional strategic projects with tangible results for the sustainable economic development of the entire Black Sea region and, implicitly, to the development of BSEC-oriented capacities."

At the same time, the Romanian official confirmed the "active support" of Romania for implementing the BSEC Anniversary Summit Declaration (Istanbul, May 22, 2017), advancing the reform process of the organisation on a consensual basis, and identifying the best ways to strengthen the organisation's regional visibility and profile.

At the end of the ministerial meeting, a symbolic ceremony was held to hand over the BSEC Chairmanship-in-Office to Azerbaijan, which runs from July 1 to December 31, 2018.