On Thursday, 16 March, State Secretary for Defence Policy, Planning and International Relations, Simona Cojocaru, participated in the opening of the tenth edition of the American-Romanian Business Council - AMRO. The US delegation was headed by the AMRO Executive Chairman, Eric Stewart, with the participation of the representatives of 15 major American companies.

In her opening speech, the Romanian official emphasized the Romanian-American bilateral relation both with regard to the political-military component and the economic one, especially due to the conduct of the eighth round of the US-Romania Strategic Dialogue, on March 14.

The state secretary referred to the recent developments of the security environment in the context of the Russian Federation's aggression war led against Ukraine, which impacts at regional and global levels.

Also, the Romanian official told the military delegation that the Ministry of National Defence was adapting to the operational requirements of the current security environment and presented the measures taken in order to face a large spectrum of threats. In this context, the state secretary mentioned that the defence planning process must take into account that the procurement of equipment should be adapted to Romania's defence and security requirements and enable the accomplishment of the armed forces' assigned missions, the efficient use of the new technologies and the fructification of economic opportunities.

The MoND official reiterated Romania's firm commitment to collective defence by recalling the allocation of 2.5% of the GDP for defence expenditures, while the expenditures planned for the procurement of major equipment throughout 2023-2026 should exceed 30% of the defence allocated budget. At the same time, the Romanian dignitary emphasized that one of the strategic objectives of the Government was to consolidate and modernize the national defence industry.

The Press Office