Agreement signed in Bucharest: 221 million Swiss francs for economic growth, energy efficiency

Romania will benefit from 221 million Swiss francs, based on a framework agreement, signed on Monday at the Cotroceni Palace, which will operationalize the second Swiss financial contribution to reduce economic and social disparities in the Union European.The President of the Swiss Confederation, Ignazio Cassis, declared that the amount offered is "at the same time a lot and a little", but that these funds will allow the deepening of bilateral relations and the financing of some projects in favor of the population of Romania. The money can be used until 2029.The partnership aims at five areas: economic growth and reduction of unemployment, thanks to professional training programs; improving public safety by strengthening the neighborhood police, the judicial system and the fight against organized crime; energy efficiency and renewable energies; ensuring basic medical services in isolated areas and social inclusion of disadvantaged groups; transparency and the fight against corruption."Our countries already collaborate, very successfully, on these topics and this is the starting point for the second contribution. The fact that we worked together between 2009 and 2019 allowed us to improve our mutual knowledge and collaborate better. So the ground is prepared. My visit today reminds us that our countries maintain excellent bilateral relations," said Ignazio Cassis.President Klaus Iohannis declared that Monday's bilateral discussions reconfirmed the solidity of the relationship between Romania and the Swiss Confederation, in a "difficult period, marked by multiple challenges". At the same time, he highlighted that the volume of trade has more than doubled in recent years, reaching 1.76 billion euros in 2021."Also, after the first 9 months of the current year we are already approaching 1.5 billion euros, which means we have an increase of almost 24% compared to last year. At the same time, Switzerland remains an important investor in Romania, ranked 10th in top of the countries of origin of foreign investments. In the future, we will focus on concrete projects of common interest, in areas such as: research and innovation, energy, cyber security, education and professional training, health and medicine," said Iohannis.He appreciated the support that Switzerland gives to Romania's goal of integration into the OECD. The Romanian president also welcomed the recent election of Switzerland for its first mandate as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, in the period 2023-2024."During today's discussions, we also addressed the topic of energy security at the European level, especially in the current extremely complicated security context. Romania and Switzerland have common interests in implementing concrete solutions at the level of the European energy market, in order to ensure both prices correct, as well as predictability for citizens and companies in the supply of energy. We will continue the exchange of opinions in the future, including in order to identify concrete opportunities for cooperation, especially with regard to the energy transition," Iohannis added.    President Klaus Iohannis welcomed President of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis, at the Cotroceni Palace on Monday.The official was received with military honors on the ceremony stage.The two heads of state are going to address the status and proposals for strengthening the bilateral relationship and economic and sectoral cooperation, with an emphasis on stimulating investments and identifying new areas of collaboration.