Exchange of experience with Poland on the Development Fund. Senate’s Tariceanu: A very interesting meeting

President of the Senate Calin Popescu-Tariceanu on Tuesday said he was pleased with the extented meeting he had with the Minister of Investment and Development in Poland, Jerzy Kwiecinski, and with the President of the Polish Fund for Development, Pawel Borys, which meeting he labeled as “very interesting,” considering that Romania is creating its own Sovereign Development Fund; however, he also mentioned that “the idea wasn’t to copy anybody, for there aren’t two identical development funds.” “We ended the meeting, which was very interesting in my opinion, for we were able to watch a presentation made by the Polish Ministry of Economy and Economic Development, together with the President of the Polish Development Fund related to how the Polish Development Fund was set up and works. I invited the two Polish officials considering our own project to set up the Sovereign Development Fund in Romania and, of course, it seemed normal to carry out an exchange of experience in this context, to see what is the structure of the Polish Fund, what they had in mind when they created it, how it works now, what are the risks – for such financial instruments also imply taking a certain risk and I also saw what were the results after almost three years of functioning of the Polish Fund,” said Tariceanu. He also added that the two projects are not “quite identical,” while he mentioned that the idea was not to copy anybody, for there aren’t two identical development funds.” According to the Senate Speaker, the models are different from country to country, while Romania needs two things to finalize this project – the general functioning framework of the Development Fund and the actual creation of it. With respect to the approval of the legislative proposal, Tariceanu said that it will come when “the draft ordinance regarding the creation of a legislative framework will be a comprehensive one, providing the certainty that it’s seated on the right path.” Participating in the meeting were also Speaker of the Deputies’ Chamber Liviu Dragnea, Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici, representatives of the Government and the Opposition.   PSD’s Dragnea hopes that meeting with coalition be held in reasonable time to unblock ordinance on FSDI   Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Liviu Dragnea voiced hope, after attending a meeting with officials in Warsaw regarding the Polish experience in respect to the Development Fund, that a meeting of the ruling coalition will be held within a reasonable amount of time, in view of unblocking the ordinance regarding the Sovereign Development and Investment Fund (FSDI). “I hope – myself and Mrs Prime Minister, and our colleagues – that a meeting of the coalition will be held within a reasonable amount of time, at the Government, in view of unblocking the ordinance which regulates the possibility of setting up some companies, firms that run as a Development and Investment Fund. (…) I realised that a better understanding is needed and a meeting with the two Polish officials was requested – and I believe that it was a good idea, any exchange of experience is good – I think that we should carry out one or more meetings until a final draft is completed or until the fears behind the lack of support for this ordinance disappear or amendments are brought so that those fears no longer exist,” he stated at the Parliament Palace. Dragnea added that the fears of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) on this topic are not incorrect or something to criticise, but he also mentioned that it’s a “major decision” form the PSD’s point of view. “The Sovereign Development and Investment Fund, which many had a take on it, of the opposition and not only, is one of the main instruments so that Romania can be able to achieve its long-term strategic development objectives and we are keen that this objective be accomplished and we are opened, determined to carry out as many discussions as needed, so that everyone understands that this is a correct path and, if something is to be amended, nobody will oppose to change. The point is to amend in the sense of improving, if needed,” Dragnea mentioned. On the other hand, the PSD Chairman said, following the meeting in an extended format, that was also attended by Poland’s Investment and Development Minister Jerzy Kwiecinski, President of the Polish Development Fund Pawel Borys, Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu and representatives of Romania’s relevant ministries, that different models in terms of the FSDI are proposed in the two countries. When asked what was the role of the discussion, Dragnea replied: “I don’t know, I haven’t organised it. I gladly attended it.” “From my point of view, yes [it was a constructive meeting]. I mean, I think that we all understood the same thing,” he added.