Romania wants closer cooperation with Turkey in two areas that it considers strategic, the defense industry and energy, declared prime minister Marcel Ciolacu.

The Bucharest Executive head delivered, on Tuesday, joint statements with the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the end of the official meeting that took place at the Presidential Palace in Ankara.

„In particular, I would like to mention two areas of major interest for Romania. The first aims at a closer cooperation at the level of our defense industries. Romanian relevant companies have already demonstrated that they can face the requests regarding the production of powders, shells, weaponry and various specific components. We already have solid contracts with the Turkish side regarding Bayraktar drones and Otokar armored vehicles, but I believe that we can establish a partnership formula through which we can carry out that technology and know-how transfer through which the Romanian companies to be able to produce these components in Romania,” declared Ciolacu.

He also referred to the huge opportunities in the field of energy discussed with president Erdogan and announced the creation of a Romania-Turkey Joint Working Group.

„Turkey is one of our main options for gas supply, either from the Caucasus or through LNG stations. At the same time, our countries are also gas producers and have clear advantages on the map of future routes. Thus, we agreed to the establishment of a Romania-Turkey Joint Working Group that will evaluate the possibilities through which we can develop cooperation in the field of connectivity, but also in the field of renewable energy and nuclear energy,” declared Marcel Ciolacu.

AGERPRES