ECONOMIC FORUM Tigers on China's paper

The Businesspeople Forum of the China- South Central and Eastern Europe (ECE) was overflowing with optimism yesterday, leaving the impression that we would soon be swarmed with Chinese investments. Full of good intentions, the Chinese are very slow to move forward when it comes to beginning a new project, as they go through a period of adaptation to the rules according to the "European game".

Starting about two years ago, China is offering a line of credit of 10 billion Euros to the ECE region, and the Europeans haven't done a very good job of spending it. So for now, we are just swamped with a mountain of pompous sounding papers, which are meant to send positive signals for the trade relations between the two countries.

So yesterday's forum was an amazing feat, in terms of the image of Chinese and Romanian officials. "Romania will become a European tiger, and if all the tigers in Eastern and Central Europe will get together and cooperate, a huge market will develop", Chinese prime minister, Li Keqiang, said, in an attempt to artistically describe the potential for development of the trade relations between China and the countries in the region.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta said that his clear message was that the People's Republic of China and Central and Eastern Europe will be implemented in practice in the near future.

The Chinese prime-minister said: "China is ready to comply with all of the European regulations in the area of investments and public acquisitions, as well as in the area of financing. I hope that the line of financing of 10 billion dollars extended to Eastern and Central Europe will be spent as soon as possible. This amount can be supplemented if the investment budgets will be implemented quickly. China is encouraging its financial institutions to open representative offices and branches in Central and Eastern Europe to support the development of bilateral economic relations with this part of Europe".

China has made it its goal to double, in the next five years, the amount of the commercial exchanges with Central and Eastern Europe, said Li Keqiang. He added: "Other strategic avenues for development are the creation of major infrastructure programs in the EEC, encouraging tourism, the development of major energy projects, including nuclear ones, as well as in agriculture, where we want to import good quality products".

The participants in yesterday's forum have drawn up "Bucharest Guideline", a document with a series of goals of action for the future. The Chinese prime-minister emphasized: "This program follows three principles: equality, mutual respect and fair treatment, shared benefits and common development. Cooperation between China and the ECE is going the same way as the relations between China and the EU. It is now important to make common efforts to translate our program into realities, to implement the consensus, for this reunion to have more living results. With prime-minister Ponta we have decided together to start the working group on the Chinese-Romanian cooperation infrastructure and this time we had results".

Victor Ponta also said: "The latest figures and forecasts concerning Romania and the other countries in the region are positive and encouraging. Romania has the highest rate of growth in the EU and the majority of the 16 countries present at the Forum have yielded positive results. We have a low level of public debt and a low budget deficit. The independent forecasts presented by our region indicate the fact that it is the most dynamic in Europe. Is it an extraordinary thing? I think not. Allow me to make a comparison: our region is like a student that is full of energy, that has just graduated from college, full of ambition and hard-working, who has just moved into the city and is part of society, like he has always wanted, but he is young and still getting a low salary because the big salaries are for people with more experience. We are all young. What should we do? Complain, accept our fate? I don't think so. I don't think we will do that".

In his opinion, the funds offered by China are a chance that should not be missed, as "the next train may come too late or maybe never".

China is prepared to reinforce cooperation with countries in the region in the sector of roads, bridges, nuclear energy, high speed railroads, and also in the area of launching the large scale projects, which all leads to massive investments and furthermore, to an increase in commercial exchanges.