Seminar on Growth Through Partnership - Doing Business with East Europe
December 11, 2002, New Delhi

Address by H E Mr. Iacob Zelenco, State Secretary with the Romanian Authority for Privatisation & Administration of State Ownership

Hon'ble Mr. Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry,
Mr. S.N. Menon, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry,
Dear Mr. Rajendra S. Lodha, President FICCI,
Distinguished representatives of both public and private economic organizations,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear friends,

I don't intend to hide from you both my pleasure and honour given by the opportunity to address the Seminar on "GROWTH THROUGH PARTNERSHIP - DOING BUSINESS WITH CENTRAL AND EAST EUROPE", organized jointly by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and FICCI.

India is a special country and enjoys a special interest from both the official as well as the private circles of my country, Romania. My presence here is the obvious proof in this respect.

I think this is the right occasion to stress that Romania has been one of the forerunners in the industrial co-operation with India. If we would focus on the field of oil, we could find out that, in Independent India, the first rig to drill for oil was a Romanian one and the Romanian team drilling in Gujarat, struck oil indeed by 1955/56. Also, this year there are 40 years since Romanians built completely the first oil refinery of Independent India, in Gauhati (Assam), and it is still working well.

On the other hand, with the recent privatization process going on in Romania, I have to point out that my country's biggest industrial undertaking, the "SIDEX" integrated steel mill has been privatized in 2001 with ISPAT INTERNATIONAL (a London based company of Indian origin). In fact, I will revert later on to the details concerning Romania's privatization strategy and the achievements in this field.

However, bilateral trade and economic relations are much below the potential of our two countries. Presently the words undergo dynamic changes and the respective trends should apply to our bilateral relationship too.

Within this framework, Romania can be looked at from a different perspective, favorable to the Indian interests.

The invitation extended to Romania to join NATO represents the first firm step towards accomplishing the integration in the European and Euro-Atlantic structures. The negotiations for the integration in the European Union are advancing. Both tracks strengthen our country's stability, predictability and attractivity.

For now, what I feel is important to do, is to seize the opportunity to identify new tracks in the field of both trade, co-operation and investment, in order to keep with the standards set by our predecessors one generation ago.

Allow me, please, to congratulate the organizers on the excellent idea of this Seminar and to wish every success to this event.

Thank You.