PM Ciolacu on a two-day working visit to London, scheduled to meet British counterpart, local Romanian community

 Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu will be on Tuesday and Wednesday on a working visit to Great Britain, having meetings with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, House of Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, and City of London Lord Mayor Alastair King on the agenda, the government said in a release. Also, the prime minister will participate in the Romania - UK Economic Forum due on November 13.His program also includes a visit to a Romanian local church and meeting with members of the Romanian community in Great Britain."The government of Romania is interested in strengthening the Strategic Partnership with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on all levels of bilateral interest, adjusted according to the current challenges and opportunities. The Romanian community in the United Kingdom is quite a strong one, and the promotion of the rights of our fellow nationals represents a vital pillar of bilateral cooperation," said Ciolacu, as cited in the release.This is the first visit of a Romanian prime minister to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 17 years, the Executive notes.The official delegation will include Foreign Affairs Minister Luminita Odobescu, National Defense Minister Angel Tilvar, Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Radu Oprea, Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja, honorary advisor and EP Vice-President Victor Negrescu, and state advisor Nicolae Comanescu.***The Romania - UK bilateral relationship is governed by the Strategic Partnership launched on June 26, 2003, revised in 2011 and updated on March 23, 2023 by a Joint Declaration signed by the two states' Foreign Affairs ministers.The Romanian community in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is estimated at over 1.2 million.Romania is represented in the United Kingdom through the Embassy in London and three Consulates General in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. Steps are currently being taken to operationalize the Consulate General in Birmingham and a consular office in Belfast, to serve Northern Ireland.According to the release, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is one of Romania's most important trading partners, and the first in the ranking of the countries with which Romania is running a trade surplus (1.6 billion euros in 2023, and one billion euros in the first seven months of 2024).Total trade exchanges in 2024 are estimated at over 4 billion euros. In the first seven months of 2024, provisional data indicate a trade amount of 2.42 billion euros, marking an 8.84% increase in bilateral trade. According to the National Trade Registry Office, as of June 30, 2024, there were 7,011 trading companies with British capital registered in Romania.