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Senate's Ciuca: PNRR and accession to the OECD, solutions to reduce gaps
Senate President and leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Nicolae Ciuca argued on Monday that the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), as well as accession to the OECD are the solutions to reduce the gaps between Romania and the developed countries.
"We are in competition with all those with whom we interact on the large, open market, in all sectors of activity, and here we must all be aware that no one is waiting for Romania to catch up. We are in a debate about everything we have to do, in order for Romania to really gain a dynamic, a rhythm similar to that of developed countries and here we have a lot of catching up to do. I am convinced that through the PNRR we can catch up and complete part of Romania's modernisation and transformation processes in all sectors. (...) The second solution is our accession to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It is a path that we have all assumed we must complete and (...) it is imperative that we find solutions to reach the specific standards of this organization that brings together the most developed, modern, industrialized and technologically advanced countries in the world, " said Ciuca at the Bucharest Leaders Summit: The Highway to Success", held at the Senate.
According to Ciuca, in order to reduce the gaps "we need leaders who understand the necessity and the possibility for our country to maintain the fastest possible pace".
"Leadership is not enough to ensure progress and development, it takes strengthened and cohesive teams to be able to support leadership decisions and persuade people to follow them. (...) All those who exercise leadership must have an openness and a permanent dialogue with the people (...) It is absolutely necessary to have the conviction at the level of the whole society, that through our commitment, of all of us, through solidarity and unity we are (...) on the path to success," added Nicoale Ciuca.
The PNL leader pointed out that the gaps must be reduced in areas with potential in our country and drew attention to the fact that Romania, "a country with an enormous agricultural potential and a great capacity to support the livestock sector, (...) has a trade balance deficit of 2.4 - 2.6 billion euros".
"While we have a fairly strong medical and pharmaceutical education sector with very high potential, the trade balance deficit also stands at around 2 billion euros. And then comes the part that is hard to understand. We had a quite developed chemical and oil substances industry, and here the balance deficit goes up to 4 billion (...) We have three or four power refineries and we import 95% of the bitumen with which we want to build motorways, given that we spend for the greening of residues and meeting environmental norms," explained Ciuca.
He also said that plastic, cellulose are imported, although we we used to have industrial plants and we have reed, wood waste.
"Although the IT sector has a share of about 8.5 percent in Romania's GDP, when it comes to the computer, electronic parts and optics industry, the balance also exceeds 2 billion. There is some data (...) that should raise questions and generate solutions. (...) We are very much dependent on imports," Ciuca said.
Referring to the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, the PNL leader pointed out that "we must think as a nation that wants a future for the young generation, to have its own resilience capacities".
He believes that "reducing the gaps must be done from within" so that there are no more regions left behind.
"Let us hope that in the end we will have the necessary solutions so that we can draw inspiration from them, assume them on at a political level and come up with public policies that really put Romania on a coherent development path. We tend to act enthusiastically in the first part of a commitment and then to defer," Senate Presient Nicolae Ciuca added.
AGERPRES
