ACT Media

February 25, 2005

US examines Romanian-American trade opportunities in agriculture and information technology

The United States hopes that Romania will help - after its integration into the European Union - finding a solution to overcome the negotiations deadlock between the American side and EU countries on biotechnological products, congressman Bob Goodlatte declared, Thursday, in Bucharest. He heads a U.S. Congress delegation currently visiting Romania. Congressman Goodlatte said he had talks to this end with Romanian Agriculture Minister Gheorghe Flutur and that he told the minister the EU is well aware of this technology benefits, as well.
"We know Romania cultivates products using biotechnological techniques, but that is not approved by EU countries at present", the American congressman added, expressing his hope that the U.S. would be able to maintain its trade opportunities with Romania after its EU accession. He also stressed that, in his turn, the American market remained open to such cooperation links. He reaffirmed the American Congress' support for investments meant to upgrade the Romanian agricultural sector.
On Thursday, the American delegation visited several farms in Timisoara area (western Romania) where U.S. investments were made. "We want to see how these investments are used and how they reflect in farms productivity, but also in improving people's life", Goodlatte affirmed, adding that visits to some agricultural units near Bucharest are also included in the schedule. Previously, the delegation formed of nine congressmen had talks with Minister Flutur, Minister of Economy and Trade Codrut Seres, minister delegate for trade Iuliu Winkler and with Minister of Communications and Information Technology Zsolt Nagy.
Issues related to the information technology and the Internet were also approached. On this occasion, the Romanian side reiterated its commitment to take all the necessary steps to secure the Internet against electronic criminality, Goodlatte said, stressing the importance of this issue because it could boost Romanian companies' confidence in their electronic transactions. The congressman underlined that the American authorities would cooperate with their Romanian counterparts to fight electronic criminality. He also voiced hope that US will continue to have all the present trade opportunities with Romania also after the latter joins the EU, explaining that the US market is open to such cooperation. Goodlatte reaffirmed the support of the US Congress for US investments in Romania, in order to help the modernization of agriculture.