Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodor Baconschi spoke at a press conference at Romania Pavilion today, July 29th. Attending the conference were Romanian and Chinese journalists, on the occasion of Romania's National Day at EXPO 2010.
The head of the Romanian diplomacy presented the goals Romania pursues through its presence at the Shanghai world exhibition, and Bucharest’s priorities in the relationship with P. R. China.
“Romania's participation in EXPO 2010 Shanghai Is undoubtedly Romania's most significant promotion in China after 1990. Efforts have been made, whose consistency is demonstrated by the large number of visitors. So far we have succeeded in having over 2 million visitors in Romania's Pavilion,” Minister Baconschi said.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs noted that for Romania this was “a good opportunity to use Shanghai’s world visibility to showcase our current stage as a society and economy.” “The exhibition made it possible for us to present business opportunities, our national specificities, the new dynamics generated by our joining the European Union and provide all needed arguments for the invitation that Chinese businesses, tourists, students visit our country,” the head of Romanian diplomacy explained.
To that effect, Minister Baconschi stated that an update was needed in the Bilateral Visa Agreement between Romania and P. R. China, to correlate the Schengen requirements to the need to attract tourists from China, and Asia in general.
The head of Romanian diplomacy explained that a regional vision should exist for attracting Chinese tourists – especially in terms of promoting integrated tourist packages jointly with other states in Central and South-Eastern Europe.
As regards the bilateral relationship with China the Romanian Minister stated Romania wanted to see P. R. China, “a country in full economic and geo-political emergence, remain a reliable partner for our country.”
Minister Baconschi voiced appreciation for the Chinese society’s degree of urban development in general, but especially that of Shanghai. “The Chinese society –linguistically and regionally diverse – has already entered a new stage of development (…) China as a whole is now in high gear, development-wise. And at the same time, as a responsible global player, it has begun to take up the topics of sustainable development,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs stated.
In concluding the press conference Minister Baconschi emphasized that Romania should “harbor the national ambition” of hosting a World Exhibition too. “Hosting a World Exhibition is an opportunity to drive economic development further and to make oneself known to the entire world in just two, three or six months,” Minister Teodor Baconschi said, and added that the Chinese partners were willing to share their relevant know-how with Romania.
On July 28-30 Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodor Baconschi is in Shanghai to attend Romanian National Day at la EXPO 2010.
The Romanian delegation, headed by Minister Baconschi, includes: Minister of Regional Development and Tourism Elena Udrea; Romanian Members of Parliament; State Secretary with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Vasile Timiş; Romanian Ambassador to China Viorel Isticioaia; Romanian Consul General in Shanghai Florin Tacu; and Romanian Commissioner General at EXPO 2010 Ferdinand Nagy.
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