Romanian PM at the 2018 China-CEE 16+1 Summit in Sofia

Romania is interested in the development of regional projects in transport infrastructure, development of energy and communications initiatives, and in strengthening dialog on education policies, in the 16 + 1 cooperation framework (CEEC /China - Central and Eastern Europe), said Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă during the 7th China-CEE 16+1 Summit, held on 7 July in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Bucharest is ready to take on an important role in the cooperation between China and Central and Eastern Europe, joining the Center for Dialogue and Cooperation in Energy, already established in Romania two years ago – states a government communiqué.

Romania also wants to host the 16 + 1 Dialogue on cooperation in the field of education, scheduled for May 2019, under the aegis of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (January-June 2019).

"The '16 + 1' format aims to strengthen Europe (..) presence of 1,500 companies in Sofia opens up new opportunities for economic cooperation. We want to implement projects for which there is no funding from the EU Cohesion Fund or that do not present interest for the European Union, for the time being", said host of the event, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, according to RRA Correspondent in Sofia, Petio Petkov.

In turn, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang called for deepening an open and pragmatic cooperation between China and the CEEC, to promote common prosperity and development.

CEEC summit in Sofia has been attended by representatives of 1500 companies from China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and delegations of the World Bank and the European Investment Bank. A number of agreements have been signed at the meeting.

Next CEEC 16+1 meeting will be held in Croatia.

Source:RRA.Translated by Miruna Matei