Cooperation opportunities between Romania and Western Australia

 The Ambassador of Romania to Australia, Radu Gabriel Safta, ended on Wednesday an official visit of several days to Perth, the capital of the state of Western Australia, a region of the Australian Commonwealth that provides almost half of the country's export revenues, mainly through mining and processing of no less than 50 different minerals.According to a press release issued by the embassy, the Romanian diplomat had meetings with the governor of Western Australia, Chris Dawson, the president of the Legislative Assembly (lower house) of the State Parliament, Michelle Roberts, the president of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, Peter Quinlan, the minister of energy, environment and climate action, Reece Whitby, the deputy speaker of the Liberal Party in the Legislative Council of Parliament (upper house), Tjorn Sibma, mayor of Perth, Basil Zempilas, and state representatives of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Department of Labour, Tourism, Science and Innovations, of the University of Western Australia, the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and the Perth Mint.The Romanian ambassador's discussions with the Australian dignitaries resulted in the interest for Romania's bilateral economic and sectoral cooperation with Western Australia, with an emphasis on the fields of energy, university cooperation, agriculture and medicine. The vast natural resources, including the minerals necessary for the green transition (Western Australia is the world's largest producer of lithium, being also one of the main global producers of nickel, indispensable elements for the production of batteries) and the expertise acquired in their processing gave the city of Perth the informal title of resource and energy capital of the Indo-Pacific, turning Western Australia into a global interlocutor on energy issues.Parliamentary diplomacy was identified as a special area of interest in the meetings with the president of the Legislative Assembly in the State Parliament, Michelle Roberts and with the deputy chairman of the Liberal Party in the Legislative Council of the Parliament, Tjorn Sibma. At the same time, during the meetings, the role of the Romanian community in Western Australia for the evolution of some key economic fields, such as mining or IT, was highlighted.The meetings with the mayor of the city of Perth and with representatives of the University of Western Australia, the Harry Perkins Medical Research Institute and the Perth Mint (one of the most prestigious institutions in the world in gold and silver refining) allowed the exploration of cooperation or association possibilities with similar institutions in Romania, through possible twinning possibilities at the city level, university mobility opportunities for professors, researchers and students or exchange of experience in the field of gold refining.In addition to the program of the official visit, organized in collaboration with the Department of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet in Western Australia, the Romanian ambassador also had a meeting with the federal deputy of the Labour Party, Josh Wilson, part of an Australian parliamentary delegation that visited Romania in 2018. At the same time, the visit of the Romanian ambassador to Perth led to meetings with the representatives of the Romanian community in the capital of Western Australia.