ForMin Melescanu reveals importance of boosting political dialogue with many African states at a meeting in Bucharest

Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu participated on Tuesday in the meeting called "Africa Initiative - A renewed commitment for the 21st century," context in which the head of the Romanian diplomacy underscored the importance of intensifying the political dialogue with many of the African states.

According to a release of the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) sent to AGERPRES, this meeting is part of the foreign policy strategy of Romania's Government to re-launch the traditional relationships with states on the African continent and it was organised by the Foreign Affairs Minister, in collaboration with the Idea Factory Think Tank and the National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics ICI Bucharest. 

The quoted source mentions that, in the opening of the meeting, the head of the Romanian diplomacy revealed the importance of boosting the political dialogue with many of the African states, an objective which MAE constantly focused on and evoked opportunities for development or, depending on the case, for deepening the relation with African states, both in terms of economic cooperation and in various other sectorial areas, whereas education will continue to have a significant place. 

Melescanu underscored the current geo-political context, as well as the latest results of the 6th African Union - European Union Summit, which was held between 29 and 30 November 2017, in Abidjan (the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire) and emphasised the importance of relations with Africa, including from a European outlook, in order to bring to mind this foreign policy dimension which will be an important benchmark of Romania's agenda while holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU, in the first semester of 2019.

He mentioned that "we share the objective pursued by the entire EU member states, that of making a progress in our relations with Africa, by registering concrete results, the more so as the general topic of this important meeting was the investment in youth for a sustainable future."

According to the same source, the Romanian dignitary hailed the presence of international partners of the academia, the IT&C sector and the African diplomatic environment present in Bucharest and highlighted the importance of a tight cooperation, through a continuous dialogue among all stakeholders who have the potential to set up the basis of the cooperation between Romania and African states. 

MAE mentions that, on the sidelines of this event, various presentations took place that aimed the education, financial-banking and communication sphere, thus, creating an adequate framework for the dialogue between African states ambassadors and other guests.