April 2009

Ambassador Robin Barnett met with key Timisoara officials and businessmen, opened an agriculture seminar and the new offices of the British company Provident Financial. He also visited the UNHCR refugee transit centre. Below is his account of the visit.

'Last month I was in Nottingham, as part of the Leadership Week and to follow up a partnership between Nottingham and Timisoara which we have been involved in for the past few months.

Last week I was in Timisoara, both following up that partnership and enjoying the first days of spring.

It is very clear: in difficult economic times we need a strong economic relationship between the regions and towns of the UK and of Romania.

It was clear, from a breakfast I had in Nottingham with a large group of East Midlands business people, that they are very interested in looking at the opportunities in Romania. When I discussed it with the Mayor and the President of the County Council it was equally clear that Timisoara and Timis County are very open to developing an even stronger partnership, involving not only the private sector, but also the higher education sectors.

My visit to Timisoara was also quite challenging because, not for the first time, I found myself having to give a speech in Romanian on the topic of cleanliness and hygiene in farming. To be brutally frank, it would be difficult in English; trying to do it in Romanian was even harder.

But behind the joke lies the fact that before the Second World War, the Banat region exported over 2 million pigs per year and was really one of the agricultural focal point of Europe. I am convinced that British companies and Romanian agriculture working together can help restore Romania’s agriculture to its rightful place in Europe.

I was also proud to help a British company, Provident Financial, establish its new office in Timisoara, providing a simple and reliable service to people who need more loan without a guarantee.

Once again, my overall impression of Timisoara is of a place very much open for business, where the people have a very positive attitude to outsiders. This could not be better demonstrated by the fact that Timisoara is the location for the first UNHCR refugee transit centre where a number of people, who have been through the horrors of civil war in Sudan are now located temporarily. This is an outstanding example of how Romania can contribute to helping solve wider problems and it was heartedly to see the children playing outside and laughing. I was even more pleased to hear from the deputy director of the centre how warmly the refugees have been received in Timisoara.

Next stop to the Timisoara-Nottingham partnership will be a visit, later this year, by a delegation from Nottingham and East Midlands. The visit should take things forward both in terms of identifying concrete areas of interest and building up specific commercial links.

All in all, a very worthwhile trip of only 24 hours duration.'

Flickr: See photos from this and other regional visits