NEWSLETTER Embassy of R omania in Belgium No. 4 October-Dece mber 2013 omania in Belgium The entire team of the Embassy of Romania in Belgium wishes to all readers of our Newsletter, partners and friends of Romania, season’s greetings and Happy New Year 2014! FORUM FOR DESCENTRALIZED COOPERATION In the three plenary sessions of the Forum, Belgium and BETWEEN ROMANIA AND BELGIUM Romania representatives made presentations regarding The 4th edition of the Forum of decentralized cooperation the stage and objectives of the process of descentralization between Romania and Belgium took place in Leuven, 25- and expressed points of view 27 October 2013. The Forum was organized by the on concrete modalities of associations Actie Dorpen Roemenie (ADR), Operation stimulating cooperation Villages Roumains (OVR) and PVR (Parteneriat Villages initiatives at the local and Roumains), with the support of the Embassy of Romania in Belgium, the Embassy of Belgium to Bucharest and the regional level, including by Province of the Flemish Brabant. means of public policies in key The event was hosted by the cooperation areas of both countries. Province of the Flemish The 2013 edition of the Forum included an important Brabant and enjoyed the business dimension and offered the opportunity for participation of exploring opportunities for initiating partnerships representatives of local and provincial authorities from between Romanian and Belgian private companies. The both countries, as well as Business to Business meeting benefited from the presence representatives of NGOs, of Mr. Leonard Orban, ex-European Commissioner and professional associations, universities and research minister for European affairs, as keynote speaker on how institutes, companies interested in the decentralized to access European funds for local projects in Romania. cooperation between Belgium and Romania. Several Belgian companies showed a great interest in such The seven thematic workshops organized during the a topic. Forum tackled the 7 priority areas of decentralized The Forum provided the opportunity to exchange best cooperation for the next years, i.e. health, environment practices and explore new initiatives in key areas of protection, tourism and patrimony, agriculture, water cooperation. The event demonstrated the relevance of management, youth projects, civil society. The fruitful decentralized cooperation between Romania and Belgium exchanges held between national and local decision at a time when Romania plans to launch a major reform of makers from both countries relied on the experience its national and local administration and also the accumulated over time by Romanian and Belgian partners imperative of providing an official framework for and revealed the commitment of both partners to develop decentralized cooperation that can ensure the continuity joint projects and partnerships in the field of decentralized of the dialogue between Belgian and Romanian partners. cooperation. Romania at a glance Congress about the need to eliminate U.S. visas for Official visit of Romanian Prime Minister, Victor Romanians, advocating for our country's inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program. (Source: www.gov.ro) Ponta, to United States On October 21-23, Prime Economic and Trade Forum China – Central and Minister Victor Ponta Eastern European countries paid an official working visit to the United States The Economic and Trade omania in Belgiumof America. The aim of Forum China –Central and this visit had both a Eastern European political and an economic countries took place in component. The visit Bucharest, November 26, includes an important at the initiative of the economic component, Government of Romania. with meetings with representatives of the major The event has been organized in the margins of the companies that have already invested in Romania or meeting of the Heads of Government in Central and possibly have investment plans, on three important areas: Eastern Europe – China, held on the same day. The the energy, the IT and modern equipment and economic and trade forum has been opened by Mr. Victor technologies industry”, Prime Minister has stated. The Ponta, Prime Minister of Romania and Mr. Li Keqiang, Head of the Romanian Government has been received at Premier of the State Council of PR China. In addition to the White House by US Vice President, Joe Biden. U.S. high government officials from 17 countries, the forum has official thanked Prime Minister Victor Ponta for the been attended by over 1500 businesspeople, of which support that Romania extended to the U.S. on a number of about 300 Chinese businesspeople, 800 Romanian and regional issues , including Afghanistan and reaffirmed U.S over 400 businesspeople from other countries in the strong commitment for a strategic Partnership with region (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Romania. On the last day of his visit, Prime Minister Victor Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Ponta had scheduled discussions with members of US Macedonia,Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia Cabout and Hungary). (Source: www.gov.ro) Macroeconomic key figures for 2013 Romania tops EU economic growth in Q3 of 2013: The GDP was up 2.7 percent from the similar period of 2012. The increase of the industrial output, exports and the absorption of European funds were the main triggers. Romania’s economy advanced 1.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2013 from the second quarter, and 4.1 per cent from the similar period of the year before, according to estimates released by the National Statistics Institute (INS). January 1 – September 30, 2013, Romania’s GDP was up 2.7 percent from the similar period of 2012, both in unadjusted and seasonally adjusted terms. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is expecting Romania’s GDP to increase by 2.2 per cent in 2013 and by 2.4 per cent in 2014, having upwardly adjusted its projections from 1.4 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively. In the same time, the statistical office of the European Union Romania (Eurostat) made public that Romania had the largest economic growth in the European Union in Q3 this year, compared with both the Q2 and the Q3 last year, according to preliminary figures. As a result of a quarterly economic growth of 1.6 percent, Romania became the leader in the EU, followed by Latvia (1.2 percent), UK and Hungary, each posting a growth of 0.8 percent, Poland and Bulgaria, both announcing growth of 0.6 percent (source: www.nineoclock.ro). According to the National Statistics Institute, the unemployment rate in the 3rd quarter of 2013 has been 7%, decreasing from the previous quarter (7.5%). The unemployment rate in terms of age categories is at the highest level among the young population (age 15-24 years), reaching 23.2% (source: www.hotnews.ro). Our activities 39.8 billion euros - the budget allocated to Romania Romania-Belgium Business within the EU multiannual financial framework for 2014-2020 Club - CAROMB The budget granted to Romania in the EU multiannual financial framework for 2014-2020 is 39.8 Discover Romanian Products at billion euros, increasing by 18% as compared to the budget 2007-2013, announced President Traian Basescu at On November 19, at Club Lorraine in Brussels, took place the end of the European Council held in Brussels. According to the President, Romania has achieved a number the re-launching of the Romania-Belgium Business Club. Delhaize of facilities regarding the system of payments, including deductible VAT and an increase of 10% for the cohesion budget, compared to the budget for the financial year 2007-2013, which amounted to 19.8 billion The meeting of the Business Club has been chaired by At the initiative of the Romanian Embassy in euros. Also, the head of State affirmed that Romania will receive for the financial year 2014-2020, an amount omaniaAmbassador Ştefan in Tinca Belgium and by Mr. Aurel Gavriloaia, of 125 million euros for the program to combat unemployment and 420 million euros for the program to th President of the Club and Managing Director at Gebobat. Belgium, on November 14 , Delhaize Group combat poverty in rural areas. The event gathered more than 45 businessmen, including (which owns the Mega Image brand in Romania) the main Belgian investors in Romania, such as Alinso launched the campaign called “Discover Hereby, Romania will receive 60 million euros each year for the next seven years, i.e. 420 million euros for the Group, Interparking, Omniform, Agrobirda S.R.L., Fish financial years 2014-2020, for the disadvantaged rural population within the European program to combat Romanian Products at Delhaize”, a project poverty in rural areas framework. Concerning the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), 17.5 billion euros were Farm SRL, Delhaize, Interhospitality. aiming at promoting Romanian traditional food allocated to Romania, meaning an increase of 27% over the budget of 13.8 billion euros which was allocated for On this occasion, the products and beverages produced in Romania in the years 2007-2013. County of Prahova has selected Delhaize stores in Brussels. (Source: Agenţia Naţională de Presă AGERPRES) made a presentation on The campaign has been a real success, as all the the economic potential and the business and products were highly appreciated by Delhaize investment opportunities customers and were sold out in less than a week. in the region. Therefore, the success of the initiative convinced The event was also Delhaize Group to replicate the campaign on a attended by representatives from various companies and larger scale, in more Delhaize stores, in 2014 enterprises interested in identifying new business and to include Romanian products in the stand opportunities in Romania, such as Maxitours, Gebobat, dedicated to international food, on a permanent Rombel, Yprado, Bosmans. basis. For 2014 the club aims to organize trimestral meetings by approaching several topics, such as agriculture, European Funds, IT, environment, green energy, local subsidies, etc.