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RADOR: News from Romania, 97-11-21
November 21, 1997
CONTENTS
[01] President Emil Constantinescu Returned from His Asian Tour
[02] Turkish President Suleiman Demirel on a Visit to Romania
[03] US NATO Ambassador Statement
[04] An Additional Budget
[05] Protests in Bucharest
[06] Stock Market Anniversay
[07] Second Edition of International Tourism Market
[08] BRD Without President
[09] Framework-Agreement between Romania and South Korea
[10] Statement of Romanian Transport Minister Traian Basescu
[11] A Romanian Satellite
[12] Weather in Romania
[13] Currency Rates
[01] President Emil Constantinescu returned from his Asian tour
Romanian President Emil Constantinescu returned from his official visit to
India. He said "Romania has tried so far to become a market for big
companies in order to attract foreign capital, but after the visits to
China, Japan, Indonesia, India and Viet-Nam, Romanian authorities' policy
has changed. Now we are looking for markets in the Asian and Pacific
regions". He called on Romanian businessmen to come up with competitive
products in both price and quality in order to go ahead with the economic
relations and political contacts. President Constantinescu said his visit
to India was a success. The businessmen in Bombay - the economic and
financial capital of India - said they were interested in investing in
Romanian iron and steel industry as well as in commissioning the Romania-
India seaway. Previously, Mr. Constantinescu met in New Delhi his Indian
counterpart Koheril Rahman Narayanan and Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral.
Romania and India have signed a bilateral agreement on investment
protection and promotion and on technical, scientific and cultural
cooperation. RRI- RADOR, November 21
[02] Turkish President Suleiman Demirel on a visit to Romania
Turkish President Suleiman Demirel is due to pay a working visit to Romania
on Monday, November 24, following the invitation of his Romanian
counterpart Emil Constantinescu. The visit is part of regular consultations
between the two presidents. A communique issued by the Turkish Foreign
Ministry says the two presidents will have talks on bilateral relations and
issues of regional and world concern. RRI-RADOR, November 21
[03] US NATO ambassador statement
The candidates to NATO membership, Romania included, will be re-assessed in
1999. The US ambassador to NATO Robert Hunter told RADIO ROMANIA
INTERNATIONAL (RRI) that Romania already was a full member of some Euro-
Atlatic bodies and made progress in the right direction - a fact that may
help it become a NATO Member State. As far as the US-Romania strategic
partnership is concerned, ambassador Hunter said it was sgnificant for the
importance Washington attached to Romania and its security in Europe. RRI-
RADOR, November 21
[04] An additional budget
The Romanian Government has approved on Thursday an emergency ordinance on
rectification of the 1997 budget. The Defence Ministry will get another 205
billion lei (about 25 million USD), the Home Ministry - 193 billion lei
(about 24 million USD), the Transport Ministry - 54 billion lei (about 6
million USD) and the Health Ministry - 109 million lei (about 12 million
USD). The national broadcasting companies (Radio and Television) will get
70 billion lei (about 8 million USD) to pay their debts to the
radiocommunications comany. RRI-RADOR, Nvember 21
[05] Protests in Bucharest
A march of protest took place in Bucharest yesterday in which some 40 000
trade unionists of CNSRL Fratia ( the biggest trade unionfederation in
Romania) participated. The demonstration's solgan was "Stop to National
Poverty!" Demonstraters have asked the Government to stop the process of
impoverishment f thepopulation and increase the living standards by
relaunching the economy. The protesters called for more jobs and a viable
reform programme. Trade union leaders have criticised, as they put it, "the
lack of coherence in the current economic and social policy". RRI-RADOR,
November 21
[06] Stock market anniversary
Reopened two years ago, the stock market in Bucharest celebrated its second
anniversary on Thursday. Since 1995, the number of share companies trading
on the stock marcket is now 10 times higher: there were only seven
companies in 1995 while in 1997, their number raised to 73. RADOR,
November 21
[07] Second edition of International Tourism Market
The second edition of the International Tourism Market opened on Thursday
at the Parliament Palace. The event was organised by the Romanian Ministry
of Tourism, and participants included national tourism representatives in
Austria, Britain, Greece, Hungary, India and Thailand. Romanian Tourism
Minister Akos Birtalan said the fair was an encouraging sign as it
emphasised Romania's importance as tourist attraction. He added that
European, American, Asian and African representatives attending the fair
had attractive offers in the field. The fair will close on Sunday, November
23. RADOR, November 21
[08] BRD without president
Authorised sources in the Romanian Bank for Development (BRD) say that
following his request, BRD president Marian Crisan left the job. Vice-
President Petre Bunescu is now the acting president of the bank. RADOR,
November 21
[09] Framework-agreement between Romania and South Korea
Following favourable notice of Romanian Finance Ministry and Prime Minister
Victor Ciorbea, the framework-agreement between Romanian and South Korean
Governments was signed at the Romanian Foreign Ministry headquarters. The
agreement will insure further cooperation between the two countries and
credits procedures aimed at improving parts of Romanian infrastructure will
be accelerated. The South Korean Government will grant a 30 million dollar
credit for telecommunication systems in the Romanian counties of Alba and
Buzau. RADOR, November 21
[10] Statement of Romanian Transport Minister Traian Basescu
After returning from Brussels, where he attended the G 24 meeting as member
of a Romanian delegation, Transport Minister Traian Basescu organised a
press conference in Bucharest. Among other things, the minister said: "I
can tell you that the development of infrastructure is vital for our nation,
and the G 24 meeting has shared the opinion. I could speak about the
prospects we have presented. Firstly, Romania is not facing a crisis, and
it did not attend the G 24 meeting for its big balance deficit which could
be covered by a check put in our pocket. Therefore, such procedures were
used for Albania and Bulgaria. Romania did not attend the G 24 meeting to
claim this kind of things. Romania attended the meeting to present its
programmes and ask for financial support. The question of a non-
reimbursable assistance was never put, because this was not the case. We
are not facing a crisis. We have only requested that the possibility of
grantig larger credits should be examined as our programmes and priorities
needed larger credits than before". RADOR, November 21
[11] A Romanian satellite
"Romania wishes to produce and launch in outer space its first small-sized
satellite by the year 2000", said Dumitru Prunariu, the first Romanian ever
taking part in a mission in the outer space. Prunariu explained Romania
would launch a pyggy back satellite. Romania will get support from one of
the countries that own the necessary equipment to hit the target. The
Romanian satellite is to study polution in the Black Sea as well as
developments in central seismic region of Vrancea. RRI-RADOR, November 21
[12] Weather in Romania
Weather in Romania is getting warmer but rainy or snowy in most regions.
Temperatres will range from -4 centigrades in the morning to 8 centigrades
at noon. RADOR, November 21
[13] Currency rates
1 USD = 7,818 lei; 1 DEM = 4,510 lei; 1 CHF = 5,557 lei; 1 FRF = 1,347 lei;
1 GBP = 13,233 lei; 1 XEU = 8,929 lei. RADOR, November 21
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