Smart city type projects with potential for development in Romania are becoming increasingly attractive, with foreign business people showing interest in investing in that kind of businesses.
One such major announcement was made a few days ago by the Chinese state, through one of the major companies it is a shareholder in, as its representatives have been holding talks with Romanian officials in order to conduct some impressive investments in the Romanian smart city projects.
China National Electric Engineering Co, Ltd. (CNEEC), one of the most important state owned companies in China, with large international activity, has signed a financing deal with the Romanian Association for Smart City and Mobility – Asociaţia Română Pentru Smart City şi Mobilitate (ARSCM) which stipulates the investing of 500 million Euros in the projects of that kind in Romania.
The financing deal concerns the development of projects in the main vertical areas of industry – energy, living, environment and infrastructure -, and the main goal is to support the projects of the ARSCM to develop the intelligent-creative communities in Romania, the representatives of the association told us. According to them, the agreement has a ten year implementation period, with the next projects to be announced in the coming period.
ARSCM and CNEEC have signed the financing agreement for the smart city projects on Wednesday, April 3rd.
In this context, Eduard Dumitraşcu, the president of the ARSCM told us: “We believe in Romania’s potential for development and we have all the necessary ressources for the correct and consistent implementation of these projects. The funding agreement represents a major opportunity for the development of the Smart City industry in Romania. As we have promised, Romania will be an important hub in the region in the area of industries ancillary to the Smart City concept”.
Eduard Dumitraşcu also told us that in the immediate future, the first rounds of talks with the municipalities, companies and institutions interested in accessing the funds available in order to localize the projects which will be financed through the money made available by the Chinese company.
This agreement represents the first stage in a large scale investment plan, as the representatives of the CNEEC expressed their interest in creating a long term partnership in Romania, the president of the ANRCM further said.
Zhang Yanfei, the president of the Board of Directors of CNEEC, stressed: “We are extremely pleased to be in Romania. We believe that Romania has a great potential for development in the area of smart cities. CNEEC will invest through the ARSCM in the coming years 500 million Euros in solutions dedicated to the smart cities. The investment agreement concluded with the ARSCM is an important step towards the development of some projects with a major impact in energy, environment and infrastructure”.
As part of the meeting which the Chinese officials had with the Romanian government, Ramona Ioana Bruynseels, state advisor for the business sector on the team of the prime-minister said that the government supports investments in the Romanian economy: “Attracting new investments, the promoting of the public private partnerships (PPP), the attracting of European grants and international funding represent priorities for us and are solutions which the government continues to bet on to deal with the major issues that Romania is faced with, such as for instance infrastructure. The meeting with the representatives of the CNEEC once again confirms that Romania is still an attractive destination for investors, which of course is filling us with satisfaction and confirms to us that we are on the good path”.