March 10, 2023
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 10.03.2023, 16:03
BILATERAL RELATIONS – After his official visit to Japan, president Klaus Iohannis is paying a visit to Singapore, where earlier today he held talks with his counterpart, Halimah Yacob. According to the Presidency, the president highlighted Romanias goal to step up bilateral relations with Singapore. Additionally, president Iohannis spoke of a set of common goals pursued by both presidents, such as inclusion policies, economic and social development and green transition. The two officials also examined the results of initiatives and actions conducted with a view to promoting information society and cyber-security, education, gender equality, climate actions and green transition. President Iohannis expressed Romanias interest to tap into the full potential of bilateral relations, specifically in terms of economic cooperation and investments. Klaus Iohannis underscored Bucharests objective to attract investment, arguing that Romania is the third-largest EU provider of IT services to Singapore. The president of Singapore, Halimah Yacob, in turn highlighted the importance of the bilateral relation considering Romanias growing profile at EU and NATO levels, particularly in the geopolitical context generated by the war in Ukraine. President Yacob also addressed the need to boost investment and two-way trade, considering the opportunities provided by such sectors as IT&C, cyber security and tourism.
BYSTROYE – The biodiversity of the Danube Delta is not affected by dredging works on the Bystroye Canal, and the water flow on the river Danube did not report any significant changes compared to statistics published in recent years, says Environment Minister Tanczos Barna after the first measurements conducted by Romanian authorities on the branch of Chilia and Romanian sections of the Danube. The Romanian official said Ukrainian authorities must provide a written consent before the three ships of the Transport Ministry can finalize depth measurements across the entire section of the Chilia branch, run a new analysis of water flows and provide their final report. Authorities from Romania and Ukraine have agreed to measure the depth of Danube River canals after Kyiv started dredging the Bystroye canal. The Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry said that, once dredging works were completed, the depth of Bystroye grew from 3.9 to 6.5 meters. Kyiv has however denied that the works violated any agreement. Bucharest wants to make sure Ukraines operation does not impact ecosystems in the Danube Delta, a protected UNESCO World Heritage site.
DEBT – Romanias public debt dropped from 48.3% in November 2022 and 48.9% in 2021 to 47.2% in December 2022, the Finance Ministry reports. Euro debt accounted for 302.89 billion lei, national currency debt accounted for 306.75 billion lei while USD debt stood at 56.35 billion lei. Public investment spending is set at 7.2% of the GDP in 2023.
STUDY – According to a study conducted by the Knight Frank Global Wealth Sizing Model, over 91,000 Romanians have a wealth exceeding 1 million USD. Of these, 1,828 Romanians are considered extremely rich, with total assets exceeding 30 million USD each. Their number doubled over 2016-2021, with an additional seven hundred Romanians expected to join this elite club by 2026. In 2021, Romania had the highest number of superrich people in the region, ahead of Poland, a country that has twice Romanias population. 1,067 people were described as superrich in Poland, 600 in the Czech Republic, 484 in Greece and 235 in Hungary. Most people with considerable wealth live in the United States, China, Japan, France and Germany.
AWARD – The International Theatre Festival in Sibiu is today expected to receive the Castelló Award for Culture and Festivals in a special ceremony organized in Spain. According to the president of the International Theatre Festival in Sibiu, Constantin Chiriac, the distinction was awarded over the years to the Venice Carnival, Oktoberfest in Munich or the Lyon Light Festival. This years edition of the Festival will be held over June 23 – July 2. (VP)
