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President Klaus Iohannis met on Wednesday at the Cotroceni Place with President of the World Bank Group, David R. Malpass, with the talks focusing on the situation arising from the Ukraine war, with emphasis on the assistance the World Bank could provide to the Romanian authorities and the countries in the region to support their efforts for the management of the refugees, the Presidential Administration informs.
Another topic on the agenda was the need to develop the partnership between the World Bank Group and Romania for a response as appropriate as possible to the current economic and social challenges.
The World Bank Group President highlighted Romania's important role in managing the refugee inflow, including support for the Republic of Moldova, and voiced appreciation for the way our country handles the situation generated by the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine. David R. Malpass informed President Iohannis about the World Bank's intention to include Romania and the Republic of Moldova among the beneficiaries of the support mobilized globally by the international financial institution in the context of the Ukraine war, the cited source said.
President Iohannis welcomed the World Bank's initiative to support national efforts and stressed that our country's goal is to move towards a competitive, sustainable and inclusive economic model, stating that Romania's priorities in this regard are the most efficient use of European funds, investments in human capital development, supporting the economy of the future and market development, as well as energy security, which has become imperative under the current circumstances.
The President of Romania said that the digital transformation along with the green transition are an important part of Romania's post-pandemic recovery and sustainable development agenda, as are reforms and substantial investments in transport and energy infrastructure, large-scale public systems - education and health in particular. In this thread, he praised the positive impact of World Bank assistance, stressing that it is important that the results become visible as the implementation of reforms and investments in key sectors pick up speed.
The head of the state voiced special appreciation for the World Bank's support for national efforts to increase the quality of education and overcome the challenges posed by the effects of the pandemic, emphasizing the importance of achieving the goals of the Educated Romania program.
As the two top officials looked at the economic effects of the Ukraine war, President Iohannis emphasized the need for proactive approaches centered not only on the temporary settlement of the issues caused by price hikes and the energy crisis, but also on capitalizing on obvious opportunities for increased energy, food and technological security in the region, Agerpres.ro informs.
President Iohannis reiterated the importance of the World Bank's assistance in implementing the reforms undertaken in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, highlighting the opportunities offered by carrying out reforms and investment projects.
The head of the state also approached with the WB representatives the macroeconomic forecasts of the financial institution, both globally and for Romania, concluding that in a global environment marked by a general economic slowdown, economic policy decisions will play a decisive role in sustaining economic growth.
In his turn, the President of the World Bank Group expressed the institution's commitment to supporting Romania's development priorities in accordance with the current partnership framework and by virtue of the good cooperation relationship that the international financial institution has had with Romania in the last three decades.
David Malpass also said that the World Bank will continue to support the reform agenda in areas such as education, health, social protection, government and state-owned enterprise reform, but also the increase of energy and food security, with a focus on managing the challenges generated by climate change and on the need to increase the competitiveness of the Romanian economy.
