Romanian Ambassador to Bangladesh, India and Nepal, Daniela-Mariana Sezonov Tane has said her country could help Bangladesh produce hydropower through building mini plants by taking advantage of the many rivers in Bangladesh. “You have many rivers. You can make more energy out of that. Bangladesh is one of the countries with very few renewable energy percentages. Two to three percent renewable energy is absolutely not enough,” she told UNB in an interview. The Ambassador based in New Delhi said Bangladesh is one of the countries most affected by climate change and it really needs to go for green energy as coal is bringing pollution everywhere and increasing the concentration of CO2 gases in the atmosphere. “You need to make the energy transition. Bangladesh is very rich in rivers. So, you can build more hydropower plants, even small ones,” she said. Ambassador Tane said her country will closely work with Bangladesh to enhance the bilateral ties with more concrete business to take the relations further. “We need to do more business. I hope in the next two years, we will have US$ 200 million bilateral trade, from the existing around US$ 50 million. Both our countries have the capacity. It’s not so difficult. It just needs concerted efforts on both sides,” she said, adding that some Romanian companies could invest in Bangladesh, provided they are informed about the existing opportunities. Also read: Envoy urges Bangladeshi businessmen to visit Romania to boost bilateral business ties In October last year, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen visited Romania and held political consultations with his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu. They took full stock of various aspects of bilateral ties and discussed important regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest. The visit represented the most significant diplomatic contact of high ranking officials in the last 30 years between Romania and Bangladesh. “This is one way of enhancing our relations by intensifying our bilateral political dialogue,” said the Ambassador, noting that during the visit the two countries signed MoU to hold regular political consultations between the two foreign ministries. Also read: Romanian ambassador presents credentials to President Hamid amid hope of growing Dhaka-Bucharest ties The Romanian envoy who plans to come to Bangladesh twice a year said the second way is to enhance their economic contact. She said she had fruitful meetings with the government and private sectors to find ways to increase the trade. Romania is a major European wheat producer with a high potential to export its production. In 2021/2022, Romania produced 11 Mmt of Wheat and ranked as the fourth producer in the EU. In the same period, Romania’s exports reached 8.6 Mmt, to rank as the primary EU wheat extra-trader. The Ambassador said Bangladesh was importing wheat from Ukraine. The Russian “aggression” and the war which broke out disrupted Ukrainian wheat exports. “So, we can see how it is possible to be part of Bangladesh’s wheat import. We are big producers of wheat,” she said. Responding to a question, Ambassador Tane said, “There is a need in Bangladesh but we have to first see with the Romanian producers the available stocks and the possibilities of exporting here.” She identified agricultural products export as one of the areas to focus apart from a potential participation of Romanian companies, as subcontractors, to build infrastructure in the hydropower field and modernize its only refinery - Eastern Refinery Limited. “Romania has big expertise in refineries and we are big producers of spare parts for refiners,” she added. The Romanian envoy said the Port of Constanța, which is the biggest port on the Black Sea, could be made a hub for Bangladeshi exports in Central and Eastern Europe. “It can be very convenient. We are going to work on this. In my next visit I will try to see and meet Chittagong Port Authority officials and see how it is possible to make this happen. Making Constanta a hub for Bangladeshi exports for Central and Eastern Europe could shorten the transportation time and the costs and increase the connectivity between the two countries and regions,” she added. Eliminating Middlemen The Romanian Government allowed the recruitment of around 100,000 foreign workers from various South Asian countries, including Bangladeshis, for various sectors: construction, agriculture, hotels, restaurants, various other services etc. “There is opportunity. We are trying to work on a G to G basis because there are too many agencies and middlemen involved which are taking a lot of money from Bangladesh workers. This is unacceptable. It is kind of modern slavery,” she said. The Ambassador said, “In Romania they don’t face problems. They are well received and the Romanian employers are treating them well. Responding to a question, she said quite a big number of Bangladesh workers who are going to Romania with work visas are fleeing. “They don’t go because of the bad conditions of work or living, they go because there are networks which are basically taking them illegally to Europe and they leave hoping to get better wages, but they end up being irregular migrants there,” Ambassador Tane said. “Many of the Bangladeshi non skilled workers don’t speak English. They are not trained. Some of them need training. Some of them are trained by the Romanian companies after their arrival. Bangladesh and Romania are celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations this year with a vow to further deepen the relations on bilateral and multilateral fronts. Romania was one of the first European states to recognize newly independent Bangladesh and stands ready to continue developing and deepening the very good relations with Bangladesh at bilateral and multilateral level. The traditional bilateral relations attained a renewed dynamic during the last two years. The re-opening in October 2020 of Bangladesh’ Embassy in Romania was a very important moment in the efforts to re-launch bilateral relations. In 2022, the Romanian side organised a three-month temporary consulate in Dhaka in order to facilitate the granting of working visas for the Bangladeshi citizens. Romania and Bangladesh share a significant potential for economic cooperation, digitalization, cyber security, IT, technological transfer, agriculture, food industry and transport. Romania granted 50 thousand euro through UNICEF for Bangladesh’s “2020 Joint Response Plan for Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis” for water and education infrastructure.  

Ambassador Daniela Sezonov Tane on Wednesday presented her credentials to President Abdul Hamid as the non-resident envoy of Romania to Bangladesh. Based in New Delhi she also serves concurrently as her country’s ambassador to Indian and Nepal. Ambassador Daniela was given a guard of honour by a smartly turned out contingent of Presidential Guard Regiment on her arrival at Bangabhaban, President’s Press Secretary Joynal Abedin said. Read: Sustainable solution of Rohingya issues lies on repatriation: FS Welcoming the new ambassador President Hamid hoped that Bangladesh’s good relations with Romania will grow further under her tenure. Earlier on Tuesday evening Enayetullah Khan, Honorary Consul of Romania in Bangladesh, hosted a reception at his Baridhara residence in honor of Ambassador Daniela. "I am happy to be in Bangladesh. I am very proud to be in Bangladesh," she said, adding that Bangladesh and Romania are trying to do some important events together to mark the 50 years of their diplomatic relations. She said Romanians are trying to help as much as they can amid the crisis in Ukraine and recalled how they helped Indian students and some Bangladeshi people who got stranded in Ukraine. “Now we need to be together to stand for some basic general values. I hope the situation will improve,” said the Romanian ambassador, adding that it is a war which has to be condemned by everybody. “We can’t have double standards.” After falling in love with India, through the ancient wisdom of the Vedas and the Upanishads, Ambassador Daniela decided to study Hindi language and literature at the University of Bucharest. She was part of the first batch of students studying Hindi in post-communist Romania. In 1992 Daniela received a scholarship from the Indian government, for the study of Hindi language and culture, at Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, Agra and this is how she discovered India at 22. Enayetullah Khan said Romania was one of the first countries in the world to recognize Bangladesh as a sovereign country and expressed his happiness to see Ambassador Daniela in Dhaka who she met first almost 20 years ago. He said Covid has taught them to think differently during the last two years and subsequent sufferings due to the pandemic made them stronger. Khan hoped that the situation in Ukraine would turn better and would be peaceful. “I hope there will be peace in the world. There will be more prosperity.” He said though there are new challenges they would be able to face those challenges unitedly for a better world. “This is a new Bangladesh. It’s a rising Bangladesh,” Khan said, adding that they are working hard to promote Bangladesh coming out from “image deficit”. Khan hoped for peace and prosperity in the world and noted that in every crisis there is an opportunity. “I hope Bangladesh-Romania relations will grow bigger, stronger and deeper.” Secretary (West) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Shabbir Ahmad Chowdhury gratefully recalled the support of the Romanian Foreign Ministry and Bangladesh Mission in Bucharest in helping stranded Bangladeshis leave Ukraine through Moldova and Romania. Read:EU, Bangladesh remain in 'constant dialogue' over HR issues “I am very much impressed by the way she looks into Bangladesh and she (Romanian Ambassador) has expressed her willingness to elevate the relationship between the two countries to a different height,” he said. The secretary said much progress has been made and Romania is looking forward to having a lot of manpower from Bangladesh and the new ambassador has committed to facilitate it. “Our relationship will grow strength to strength in the future.” Current and former diplomats including former Ambassador Farooq Sobhan and Honorary Advisor Emeritus, Cosmos Foundation Ambassador (Retd) Tariq A Karim were present.