Romania’s new Ambassador His Excellency Radu Gabriel Safta paid a courtesy visit to Acting Prime Minister Hon. Manasseh Maelanga at the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet today.
Hon. Maelanga welcomed the Romanian envoy and congratulated him on his appointment as Ambassador to Solomon Islands with residence in Canberra, Australia.
Solomon Islands and Romania established diplomatic relations in February 2011.
Despite the geographical distance, relations between the two countries have always been cordial with common priority areas such as climate change and education.
Romania is a member of the European Union (EU), a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as well as a member of the United Nations.
Hon. Maelanga told the visiting Ambassador that Solomon Islands and Romania share common interest in areas such as climate change, education and agriculture. These are priority areas where development cooperation between the two countries can be further explored and enhanced through developing technical agreements or memorandum of understanding.
The Acting Prime Minister also acknowledged and thanked Romania’s support in the international stage on pressing global challenges particularly climate change which is of paramount importance to Solomon Islands and the Pacific region.
Bilateral engagements between Solomon Islands and Romania have been minimal since establishing formal ties. The better part of Romania’s engagement is channeled through multilateral mechanisms more specifically through the European Union’s Apparatus.
Hon. Maelanga also highlighted assistance opportunities in the 2023 Pacific Games which Solomon Islands will host in Honiara.
“The Games is a flagship project of the government and we will look to host the event and welcome all our Pacific friends and visitors,” Maelanga said.
“Solomon Islands is keen to seek collaboration with Romania on areas in sports that you could assist us with. Be it budget support to assist in our preparations or technical support through experts in various sports,” Maelanga said.
The two leaders also discussed areas including investment opportunities, multilateral assistance programmes, poverty reduction and covid-19.
