Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu arrives on a visit to Ankara today (May 21). The visit is at the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the government press office reported, BTA reported.
“The official visit is a key moment since the establishment of the strategic partnership between Romania and Turkey in December 2011 through the activation of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, the equivalent of joint government meetings”, the press release said.< /p>
The Council will be coordinated by the Prime Minister of Romania and the President of the Republic of Turkey and will have an important role to consolidate cooperation in strategic areas of common interest, to develop strategic partnership at all levels, but also to expand regional cooperation . A “Political Dialogue Group” under the coordination of foreign ministers.
During the visit, the ministers who will accompany the prime minister will hold meetings with their Turkish counterparts in order to develop joint projects between the two countries. A number of agreements and memorandums of understanding will be signed on sectoral cooperation in areas such as social security, small and medium enterprises, tourism, etc.
“Turkey is Romania's main trade partner outside the EU and the first destination for Romanian exports outside the EU. Through future projects in energy, transport, agriculture and the defense industry, we aim to increase trade to 15 billion dollars", the Prime Minister noted on the eve of the visit.
In 2023, bilateral trade will amount to more than 10 billion dollars. Turkish investment in Romania ranks 14th in terms of investors' country of residence, with 18,755 companies with Turkish capital in March 2024.
As part of the official visit, the Romanian Prime Minister will lay a wreath at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk - founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey and will participate in a working dinner. Marcel Cholaku is accompanied by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, National Defence, Transport and Infrastructure, Justice, Education, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Development, Public Works and Administration, Agriculture and Rural Development, Health, Labor and social solidarity.