English
Reporter: Your Excellency, how would you describe the economic and diplomatic relations between Romania and Italy?
Marco Giungi: In one single word - excellent! The economic relations are booming, we are Romania's second trade partner and the fourth foreign investor in Romania. Even more, we are still growing, we are still developing and I think that this is the most promising part. . We are not pleased with what we have, we are still hungry and I should add that it is an opinion that our Romanian counterparty shares. Both us, and the Romanian party want to do more, which is, of course, not always easy, it is not hard to grow 10% of 10, which means a growth of 1, but to grow 10% of 1000, means 100. So it is more difficult, but there is always room for improvement.
On the economic side, we, this Italian working club (ed. note: the Italian embassy, the Italian Foreign Trade Agency, the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Confindustria), have proposed to the Ministry of the Economy and the Ministry for the Business Sector to take one step forward and start a common cooperation with third world countries. Romania has a history when it comes to industrial cooperation with countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East, Industrial sites need modernization, Romania has know-how on the technological side, many industrial brands use Romanian technology, and we have know-how on the industrial modernization side. We should pool these abilities together and act together, outside Romania and Italy. I think that this is the next step which such a partnership deserves.
On the diplomatic, political side, we also have excellent relations.
The visit exchanges confirm this. We have had a working visit by president Klaus Iohannis in Italy, where he met with the president of our Republic, and which has been a success, meetings with the president of the Senate, Chamber of Deputies, with the prime-minister, which have been warm, friendly and substantial. Our deputy prime-minister - Matteo Salvini, came to Romania, where he has been received warmly, and the visit was of substance. These are reasons why I would define the relations between our countries, both economically and politically, as being excellent.
Reporter: What are the main areas of collaboration between Italy and Romania?
Marco Giungi: Politically, at the current time, we are focusing very much on Europe, on the future of Europe. Not just because Romania will have its first quarter as the president of the European Commission starting January 1st, 2019, but also in general because we have to admit, Brexit has been just like a stone thrown into a still water. We have to think of the future of Europe. Of course, Romania's semester as the president of the European Commission will be crucial and we are focusing on the issues specific to this semester, but we are taking further, in general, the bilateral cooperation in the European system as well. We are similar in many aspects of the future of Europe. One of the main talks after Brexit will be the next multiannual financial framework and I think that Italy has a balanced approach in that regard, because we are net contributors, but we are in favor of maintaining the cohesion policies, which is, on principle, more in the interest net beneficiaries, than in that of contributors. We think that for Europe to be cohesive, it needs cohesion funds. We need a more balanced purchasing power and true quality of life, without which you can't create a union in Europe. Meaning tat businesses have a political and philosophical approach that causes us to be very close to net beneficiaries, from our position of net contributors. I think that we have many things in common with Romania and we can work very close on the multi-annual financial framework and in general on the future of Europe.
Economically, as I've said before, there are still many things to do.
Reporter: How do you see the political context in Romania? Does it affect the business sector?
Marco Giungi: Politics more or less affects everything. But of course, the main problem for an investor, as far as politics is concerned, is stability, more than anything else. So far, I don't see in statistics and in the investment numbers stability issues. On the contrary, the business sector is more affected by taxes and labor costs. And if taxes are a pro for Romania, the labor cost is increasing. So it is not the political context that I see as a potential obstacle for future investments, but the lack of workforce which will stop companies from making further investments.
Reporter: According to statistics, Italy has the biggest community of Romanians. How has it evolved according to the latest information? What about the community of Italians in Romania?
Marco Giungi: I do not have the statistic data in that regard, but I know that in Italy is the biggest Romanian community, of 1.2 million residents. I do not see a contraction in it, I would say it is a stable community.
As for the Italian community in Romania, it is growing. On the one hand we have the statistical data, but on the other hand we have the trend. I can say that it is rising, I think that the official numbers are smaller than the reality. We have 8000 permanent residents in Romania, but we know that many investors travel regularly between Romania and Italy, especially since the transport connections between the two countries have improved, meaning that many travel back and forth and they don't register at the consulate as permanent residents. We know that this number is a lot bigger and it is increasing.
Reporter: Thank you!
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