November 6, 2018

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 06.11.2018, 14:50

IMF An
IMF mission, led by the head of the mission for Romania Jaewoo Lee is in
Bucharest over November 6th – 12th. The team is assessing
the country’s latest economic and financial developments and holds talks on the
2019 budget. At present, Romania is not running an agreement with the IMF but
this financial institution is yearly assessing the evolution of the Romanian
economy. Talks are compulsory for all member states as they are aimed at
issuing monetary, financial and economic guidelines, which enables a country to
obtain stability and a positive economic development.

VISIT The mayor of Bucharest Gabriela Firea is continuing her visit to
Madrid where she is expected to sign a cooperation agreement with her Spanish
counterpart Manuela Carmela Castrillo. The agreement will include
several domains, such as sustainable development, infrastructure, education,
culture and tourism. On Monday, mayor Firea participated in an international
forum, which brought together experts and mayors from 300 cities the world over,
which focused on preventing city violence. During her visit, Firea will have a
series of meetings with Spanish experts on smart-city and infrastructure as
well as with representatives of companies specialized in urban planning.

TENNIS Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, who will keep her first position
in the world ranking for the second year in a row, boasts the best percentage
of wins in the professional women’s tennis circuit in 2018 – 80.7%. Halep, who
participated in 17 tournaments, has obtained 46 wins and lost 11 matches,
according to the WTA webpage. The Romanian won titles in Shenzhen, Roland
Garros and Montreal and played finals in the Australian Open, Rome and
Cincinnati. Halep has also won most of the money in the WTA circuit, 7.4
million dollars. Romania ranks third in terms of top-100 players, on the same
position with the Czech Republic, after the USA and Russia. In terms of the
titles won in 2018, Romania comes fourth, together with France and Russia, each
with four titles. The Czechs have reaped 7 titles, Ukraine 6 and Germany 5.

ELECTION American citizens are going to
the polls on Tuesday, November 6, voting in the midterms and in local
elections, but at the same time, this is believed to be to a large extent a
vote on the Trump presidency. In these elections, 35 Senate seats are being
contested, of a total of 100, and all the 435 members of the House. Dozens of
US states are holding regional and local elections. These midterms will
establish party dominance in the two chambers of Congress until 2020. Democrats
are expected to take back control of the House, while Republicans are expected
to hold on to their majority in the Senate.

DEFENCE As of today Romania’s Chief of Staff, General Nicolae Ciuca
is paying a working visit to Greece. The agenda of the talks the Romanian
official is going to have with his Greek counterpart includes issues such as
the way in which Romania and Greece may contribute to strengthening security in
the Alliance’s eastern flank. Concrete ways of cooperation between the armies
of the two NATO allies are also to be discussed at both bilateral and regional
levels.

QATAR Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila is heading a Romanian
delegation to a three-day official visit to Qatar. The Romanian will be having
talks with his royal highness Sheik Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al-Tahani.
Earlier the Romanian official had paid a visit to the Sultanate of Oman and
participated in the inauguration of the Romanian embassy in Muscat on Monday. The
Romanian official attended a business forum in the capital of Oman also on
Monday when she presented investment opportunities Romania offers in
agriculture, tourism, transport, education, healthcare, research and
innovation. The Romanian official underlined Romania’s friendly business
environment, which got improved through the latest legislative amendments to
the law on public-private. The Romanian Prime Minister also held talks with His
Royal Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud al-Said, Prime Deputy Prime Minister
with the Ministers Council of the Oman Sultanate. (translated by bill)