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The governing programme of the Social-Democrats, the chapter Regional and Local Development, contains objective such as the creation of 42 smart cities, 100 competitive cities, access in maximum two hours to the nearest airport and in maximum one hour to the nearest highway on-ramp for each Romanian, said on Sunday evening Social Democratic Party (PSD) MP Daniel Suciu, during a press conference held at the PSD headquarters.
"What we propose and what will happen is a Romania developed for absolutely all Romanians. And the principle is very simple: any Romanian, regardless of region, must get in maximum two hours to the nearest airport and in maximum one hour to the nearest highway on-ramp. Any Romanian, regardless of region, must have all ten mandatory services And this means: water and sewage, gas, access to education, health, culture, sport and entertainment. After the first four years of governing, in Romania there will be 42 smart cities and 100 competitive cities. Our objectives are very clear: a sustainable and equitable development, reducing urban-rural cleavages, increasing local autonomy, transition from a linear economy to a circular economy (...) and strengthening national identity, by capitalizing local and regional traditions," said Suciu.
He stated that in order to accomplish these objectives, money from the national budget, and from the Next Generation budget, from the current and next financial exercise will be used.
Suciu emphasized that all investment projects from Romania, be them financed from European or governmental funds, will have to respect the same rules. He also announced the establishment of the National Local Development Fund, with an annual financing of 3 billion euro. He added that the National Local Development Fund would grant financing also for the 31 Romanian resorts, a total of one billion euro annual. This national fund would also ensure financing so that 80 pct of the population of Romania is connected to the gas network.
Suciu also said that, in the coming period, it will be necessary to resume dialogue with owners' associations in the construction sector, where there is currently a deficit of over one million workers and emphasized the importance of simplifying procedures to access European funds.
According to him, another objective of the PSD is the building of a public registry which will contain a map of investments done in Romania from European money and governmental money.
