According to Reuters, South Korea's Hanwha Aerospace said on Wednesday it won a 1.38 trillion won ($1 billion) order from Romania to supply self-propelled howitzers. The deal is Romania's largest arms acquisition deal in seven years and includes 54 K9 howitzers, ammunition and 36 K10 resupply vehicles, South Korea's largest defence company by revenue said. The contract lasts until July 2029, Hanwha Aerospace said. The South Korean arms procurement agency, Defense Acquisition Program Administration, confirmed the details of the deal in a separate statement. Hanwha Aerospace shares rose more than 5% to a record high in early morning trade, versus a 0.1% drop in the wider market. Overseas orders for Hanwha have jumped since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 as countries sought to bolster their arms with quick, reliable supply, analysts said. Hanwha's land defence business has seen its order backlog swell to about 30 trillion won at the end of March this year from 5.1 trillion won at end-2021. Analysts said South Korean defence firms are able to ship arms quickly with lower costs and provide continual maintenance partly due to the economy of scale from supplying the standing armed forces in South Korea, which is still technically at war with North Korea. Hanwha now holds more than 50% share of the global market for howitzer exports, according to data by NH Investment & Securities. "Given that the end of a war does not mean an end to the growth of defence spending, and that (U.S. presidential candidate Donald) Trump explicitly demanded that NATO and other European countries increase their share of defence costs, opportunities are expected to expand" for South Korean defence firms, said Meritz Securities analyst Lee Ji-ho in a note on Tuesday.
Romania’s National Company for Road Infrastructure Administration (CNAIR) has announced plans to equip highways A1, A2, and A3, as well as national road DN1 with surveillance cameras, with the investment valued at RON 220 million (EUR 44.2 million) excluding VAT. The cameras will allow authorities to penalize drivers who exceed speed limits and detect other […]
Accor, a global leader in hospitality, proudly announces the opening of Swissôtel Poiana Brașov, introducing the Swissôtel brand to Romania for the first time. Located in the heart of Poiana Brașov, Romania’s most popular ski resort, the hotel is surrounded by the lush landscapes of the Postăvarul Massif, making it an ideal escape for skiers, […]
Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureșan (EPP/PNL) has been appointed by the political groups of the European Parliament as the chief negotiator for the future Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) of the European Union post-2027. Mureșan, who was chief negotiator for the EUR 800 billion European Recovery and Resilience Mechanism and the 2018 and 2024 EU annual budgets, […]
Romania is failing to capitalize on strong positive private consumption and investments because of rising imports, which weigh visibly on economic growth, ING Bank analysts wrote in a note as they lowered their 2024 growth forecast from 2.0% to 1.3% on Friday, September 6. The detailed economic...
Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu had a meeting with Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Thursday, September 5. During the meeting, Ciolacu highlighted the importance of peace in the Middle East. The Romanian and Israeli prime ministers discussed economic cooperation projects, focusing on the defense industry, tourism, and Romania's agri-food exports. "We have dynamic […]
Romania’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.8% in the second quarter of 2024 compared with the same quarter of last year, based on both unadjusted data series and seasonally adjusted data series, the National Statistics Office (INS) announced on Friday, September 6. For the first half of 2024, Romania’s GDP recorded an annual growth […]
