Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu on Wednesday participated in the opening of a PepsiCo automated warehouse located at Popesti-Leordeni, Ilfov County, saying that the company is a model for large investors in the Romanian economy, and should there be 10 more large investors in the country with profits similar to the one recorded last year by the American company, there will be a surplus in the national budget instead of a deficit.
"To me, as a prime minister, Pepsi is the model of the large investor in the Romanian economy. You are a company that is once again making an investment of over EUR 100 million and you have brought in your state-of-the-art equipment. A company that proves its care for the environment. You use sustainable technologies, solar panels, hybrid or electric vehicles and have a vision that packaging will never become waste," said Ciolacu.
He mentioned the company's collaboration with local suppliers and, on the professional education side, with the Polytechnic University of Bucharest.
"You are a foreign investor who has been using a system of local suppliers for 25 years, which constantly supports communities, especially disadvantaged ones. A great employer that builds its future through the partnership with the key player in Romanian education, the Polytechnic University of Bucharest."
According to Ciolacu, the American company also contributes to narrowing Romania's trade deficit.
"You are a company that exports production from here to 17 other countries in the world. For all this, I can only assure you of my appreciation and respect."
He also mentioned the importance to the health of consumers of the production of soft drinks with low sugar content and chips with less salt.
"Of course, no matter how much I praise you, you will certainly not forget and I have not forgotten the fact that the government I am leading, with the current minister of finance, we are the ones who have additionally taxed products that contain a lot of sugar. I am very aware of that! Although I think I will make the finance minister unhappy, I am asking you to focus on drinks with less sugar and, of course, to chips with less salt. I am convinced that such products will find buyers in the future, because Romanian consumers are becoming more and more attentive to the impact of these products on their health," said Ciolacu.
He also congratulated the company on its impressive profit growth in 2023. "And, because we are talking about the future, even if you want it publicly or privately, I would like you to tell me the secret of last year's profit growth, of over 2,000 percent. If there were 10 more big investors with such profit (...) there would be a surplus in the national budget instead of a deficit."
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