Bolstering black sea partnerships

“Turkey and Romania have developed excellent relations,” she stated. “As the Turkish Ambassador in Bucharest, this provides a valuable advantage for me. However, I am also aware that my task here is challenging,” she added. According to Ambassador Sinirlioglu, her primary task in Romania is to continue working towards expanding and deepening the bilateral cooperation between the two countries. “There are several areas where economic cooperation between Turkey and Romania can progress further. Energy is one area that has turned into a priority for both Turkey and Romania. We have very important projects on our agenda, such as the Nabucco pipeline and high-voltage direct current under the Black Sea,” she mentioned.
The bilateral commercial relations between Turkey and Romania have developed steadily over the last decades, particularly after the two countries signed a free trade agreement in 1997. “At present, Romania ranks first among Turkey’s trade partners in the Balkans and ranks second among the countries in the Black Sea Region. Similarly, Turkey ranks first among Romania’s trade partners in the Balkans and Black Sea Region,” said the Ambassador. In 2008, the trade volume between Turkey and Romania reached five billion Euro, an increase of 4.6 per cent over the previous year. “This year, however, the severe crisis in the global economy, which has led to a collapse in global demand and a drastic decline in world trade, has also interrupted the upward trend in our bilateral trade. We anticipate that the upward trend in the bilateral trade volume will resume in 2010. Our target is reaching a mutual trade volume of 10 billion USD in the following three-year period,” she added.
There is strong potential for improving economic relations between Romania and Turkey, especially in construction, energy, transport and agriculture. “Turkish contractors have completed projects with a total value of 3.5 billion USD in Romania so far,” she explained, adding that “even though the current global economic situation has had negative effects on construction activities throughout the world, including Romania and Turkey, we expect the construction and contracting services to be among the first to pick up during the recovery period, which is expected next year.” Moreover, green-energy projects in both countries offer “remarkable opportunities for collaboration between the relevant institutions and companies in Romania and Turkey,” said Ambassador Sinirlioglu.
Road and sea transport links are other areas that can be improved, she indicated. “Turkey and Romania, both strategically located on major transportation routes, definitely have the opportunity to bring together their advantages on a mutually beneficial basis through joint projects pertaining to transportation and logistics.” The Turkish Ambassador mentioned agriculture as another highly promising area for cooperation, considering the combined expertise of Turkey and Romania in agricultural production and the massive cultivable lands in both countries: “In recognition of the rising tendency to consume organic products all around the world, Turkey and Romania can greatly benefit from more intense cooperation, particularly in the organic agriculture sector.”
According to the Ambassador, Romania is one of the major destinations for Turkish investment at the moment, with 11,006 Turkish companies registered here. Direct capital flows from Turkey amount to 711 million USD, and it is estimated that the current value of all Turkish investments in Romania is around 5.5 billion USD. These investments are mainly in banking, media, construction and industrial production, such as manufacturing in white goods, rollers and fertilizers, and processing in wood, iron, steel and food. “Among the major direct investors are Prolemn, Rulmenti Barlad, Erdemir Romania, Rompak and Anchor Grup,” the Ambassador noted.
Like other emerging European economies, Romania has been badly affected by the economic crisis. First-quarter figures point to a 6.2 per cent GDP contraction and a 13 per cent drop in industrial production. “The recovery is expected to be rather slow and the Romanian economy is estimated to contract at a rate of four per cent this year. Within this framework, most Turkish investors, also faced with the repercussions of the global crisis within the Turkish economy, are naturally taking more conservative and risk-averse approaches pertaining to new investment and expansion projects in the short-term, while maintaining their main objective of an enduring presence in Romania.”
Among the difficulties Turkish investors face in Romania are occasional bureaucratic delays and complications obtaining work permits for Turkish workers. “The difficulties experienced by Turkish companies have been mostly of a temporary nature,” Ambassador Sinirlioglu underlined. She added, “Both Turkish and Romanian authorities are keen on developing our cooperation on every field. I think that by making use of the existing big potential, we can do more, especially in the economic area.”
Ambassador Sinirlioglu, whose husband is Undersecretary at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ankara, described the Romanian people as “refined, cultured and well-educated.” She also believes Bucharest is one of the most secure places in the world, a real advantage for the city’s inhabitants. “I like jogging in its big, beautiful parks, especially in Herastrau Park. I also like going to concerts. One of the aspects which impressed me in Bucharest is the importance people attach to culture,” she concluded.