May 5, 2015 UPDATE
A roundup of Romanian and international news
Valentin Țigău, 05.05.2015, 12:05
The Prime Minister of Romania, Victor Ponta, Tuesday carried on his official visit to the United Arab Emirates, the last stop in a tour in Gulf countries. The Romanian head of government had meetings in Abu Dhabi with senior officials and representatives of the business community. The main topic on the agenda was the Government’s plan to list the Otopeni Airport in Bucharest and to restructure the Romanian airline TAROM. Proposals regarding investing in this project were also discussed on Monday with the PM of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. PM Ponta’s tour also included Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and was designed to boost Romania’s political dialogue and economic relations with the countries in the Persian Gulf region.
The judicial and administration committees in the Romanian Parliament’s Chamber of Deputies issued a favourable report on a bill aimed at amending the law on the country coat of arms and the state seal. The bill provides that the eagle on the national coat of arms should be crowned. According to the initiators, the bill is designed to “emphasise the idea of continuity, sovereignty and unity of the Romanian state and of the period when they were achieved.”
The European Commission has improved its Eurozone economic growth estimates for this year, but lowered its forecast for Greece. In a document released on Tuesday, EC estimates for Romania point to a strong economic growth rate for both the current year and the next. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Brussels, Romania is the only EU country where an increase in employment figures is estimated. The unemployment rate is expected to drop this year to 6.6% and in 2016 to 6.4%. The GDP is expected to grow by 2.8%, primarily thanks to private consumption and investments.
