January 28, 2005

US envoy satisfied with Romanian president's fight against corruption

Bucharest, 28 January: President Traian Basescu is on the right way in fighting corruption, and we will support him, convinced of Romania's success in this respect, said on Thursday [27 January] in Bucharest, US Ambassador to Romania Jack Dyer Crouch II who attended a seminar on "Prospects for Romania's prosperity", staged by the US embassy in Bucharest and the Delegation of the European Commission to Bucharest.

The US diplomat said that Romania has had all the elements it needed for sustainable development, allowing it to be an important commercial link, apt to connect the new Eastern Europe with the potential of Central Asia and the Caucasus, and the new Middle East.

The US ambassador in Bucharest underlined that Romania 's advantages for becoming an important regional centre in the economic activity are a large domestic market, a workforce trained in IT, access to the Danube and the Black Sea and historical economic relations with the Middle East . Nonetheless, in the opinion of the US ambassador, Romania will have to face fierce competition in trying to join global economy.

Romania has to offer equal chances to the business environment, rephrase the Labour Code and support the small and medium-sized enterprises sector if it wishes to make good use of its opportunities to get fully integrated into the world economy.