PLANT Romania will have the first tyre
plant without carbon dioxide emissions in the world. Construction works already
started on this plant in Oradea north-western Romania on Thursday. The total value
of this investment stands at around 600 million Euros and is being made by a
well-known Finnish consortium. The Romanian government’s contribution stands at
100 million Euros. The output is due to commence next year and the new factory
will provide hundreds of new jobs. The investment was launched in the presence
of Romania’s Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, who said: It is very important in
the moves currently underway at the EU and world level to protect the
environment and is an example to be followed.
RISK Romania runs the risk of staying in the middle-income
trap and unless it changes its present outdated economic model, it would find
it very difficult to become a state with a developed economy, NATO Deputy
Secretary General Romanian Mircea Geoana said. In my opinion, Romania’s
present economic model is outdated. It has far too long been based on small
incomes, cheap labour and exports with much too little added value to be able
to be competitive and climb the ladder of the developed nations. That’s why it
is very clear that we need to build our future by learning from what went wrong
in the past years Geoana said at the Future is now summit held in Bucharest.
According to him only few countries have managed to get out of the
middle-income trap like South-Korea for instance. He has also mentioned the
efforts in this direction made by countries in our region such as the Czech
Republic, Estonia and Poland.
FESTIVAL The Cinefemina Film Festival
has kicked off in Bucharest. The festival promotes and supports women working
in the European film industry by screening features and short films directed by
talented women filmmakers and producers. Running until May 14, the festival
will bring to cinema halls 12 European features and 5 short films. Produced by
film studios from Italy, France, Greece, Romania, Austria, the Netherlands,
Portugal, Poland, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Hungary, the productions tackle a
variety of genres, from comedy, drama to romance. This year, apart from film
screenings, organizers have also prepared meetings with filmmakers as well as
experts in a number of related fields, representatives of NGOs and journalists.
These debates are aimed at promoting women in industries traditionally
dominated by men.
GRANTS European Transport Commissioner
Adina Vălean on Wednesday distributed two grants worth 60 million euros to
Romanian beneficiaries for the construction of the rail bridge in Ungheni on
the Romanian border with the Republic of Moldova and for the modernization of
the Port of Constanța in the southeast. The funds are earmarked under the
Connecting Europe Facility. Regarding the bridge in Ungheni, Commissioner Vălean
said the project will be an extension of the A8 motorway to the Republic of
Moldova, adding that Romania has applied for and secured funding for six
bridges.
(bill&VP)