At Sofia summit PM Dancila expresses Romania's firm support for pragmatic development of '16+1' cooperation

Premier Viorica Dancila, addressing the plenary of the summit of the China - Central and Eastern European Countries cooperation format, expressed Romania's firm support for the pragmatic development of the '16 + 1' cooperation and its commitment to further promoting and giving new impetus to the goals agreed upon within this framework, which will contribute to the economic development and prosperity of the participating countries. 

PM Viorica Dancila participated on Saturday in Sofia in the 7th Summit of the China - Central and Eastern European Countries cooperation format ('16+1'). 

The high Romanian official conveyed to the counterparts from the participating states Romania's interest in the development of regional transport infrastructure projects, as well as in the development of initiatives in the field of energy, communications, or aimed at facilitating inter-human contacts, also by intensifying dialogue on education policies in this format. Dancila said that Romania is ready to take on an important role in China - Central and Eastern Europe cooperation, having joined the Center for Dialogue and Cooperation on Energy, created in Romania two years ago, the government said in a release.

PM Dancila also conveyed Romania's interest in hosting the '16 + 1' Dialogue on cooperation in the field of education, following the May 2019 ASEM Education Ministers' Meeting that will take place under the aegis of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. 

"Given the importance attached by Romania to China - Central and Eastern Europe cooperation, Premier Viorica Dancila emphasized the importance of actions that promote connectivity between European and Asian partners. In this context she pointed to the significant role the Danube and the Black Sea could play in increasing mobility and competitiveness, two goals circumscribed to cooperation in the '16 + 1' format. The Romanian head of government advocated the identification of concrete ways of achieving and supporting complementarity between '16 + 1' cooperation on the one hand, and the political and economic mechanisms of the EU - China relationship and the EU infrastructure and investment programs on the other hand. According to the Romanian PM, this line of action has the potential to confirm and reinforce the contribution of the '16 + 1' format to strengthening ties between Europe and China, a goal that has Romania's full support," the government's release states.