British Ambassador Robin Barnett visited North Western Romania on 01-05 October 2009. He opened the offices of UK companies Provident Financial and Vitafoam, met President of Romania Traian Basescu, local authorithies and leading NGOs and businessmen. He also took part in a poverty housing building programme. 

This is Ambassador Barnett's account on the regional trip:

'I am coming to the end of a 5-day road trip. The range of experiences has been so wide that it’s hard to know which one to cover. There are one or two significant things.

The first is that even in the middle of a global economic crisis British investors are still keen on Romania. I opened a new branch of Provident Financial in the dynamic and fast-growing city of Cluj Napoca and assisted President Traian Basescu in the inauguration of a brand new state-of-the-art foam factory in Ludus. This is a British investment of over 12 million Euros, which gives Romania perhaps the most modern foam factory in the world, something which the President himself highlighted.

A second theme was the rich variety of opportunities that Romania continues to offer. In my discussions in Cluj, Baia Mare, Beius and Oradea it became clear that even in these difficult times there are real opportunities for economic partnerships and further investments in Romania. To offer just one example, we saw for ourselves the scope for modernising Targu Mures airport, an area where British expertise is well known.

But in a way more important than either of these were the contacts that I had with people from all walks of life across Romania: whether I am talking about the farmers who are utilising the best of British breeds to improve the quality of Romanian meat (it was delicious by the way); whether I am talking about the fantastic group of Romanians and volunteers from Northern Ireland who’ve come together in Beius as part of the Habitat for Humanity poverty housing building programme (photo: my painting improved drastically after a few hours); whether it was the group of businessmen in Baia Mare who talked so frankly about the challenges that they face but also the opportunities that they see even in difficult economic times for us all. I was reminded of just why I really enjoy being British Ambassador to Romania.

One other thing however also remains clear: Romania needs to exploit its real potential and to bring to fruition its planned programme of investment in infrastructure as soon as possible.

I have seen some absolutely fantastic scenery over the last 5 days. There is no doubt that a more developed and integrated transport network would not only make life easier for the people of Romania but also improve its attractiveness for foreign investment.

And finally: I am taking something home from the road trip - yet another kilo as a result of the fabulous Romanian hospitality.'