Crisis Easier To Overcome If Romania Had Invested In Farming, Not Consumption - President

He said Romania has the potential to feed over 80 million people, but it imports 70% of the food products.

“Unfortunately, last year’s figures show that we, 20 million Romanians, have imported 70% of the food we’ve eaten. This truth is probably the most significant signal that we must change our policies,” Basescu said.

He said the policy relying on consumption is not good and Romania needs to invest in agriculture.

“You’ve seen what development based on consumption means. Money was thrown away to uphold consumption, and at the first sign of difficulty, Romania encountered problems because of the economic crisis. Romania would have overcome the crisis easier, if it had taken care of agriculture in the past 20 years and if it had invested money to create economic growth regardless of the global situation instead of wasting it on consumption in the past four years,” Basescu said.

He added the impact of the economic crisis would have been lower if the irrigation systems had been working on large areas, “ if a system encouraging investments in agriculture had existed”, and if the food industry had been capable of using the agricultural production.

“We need a long-term strategy to make use of the farming potential. The example of Arad (western Romanian town –e.n.) is the solution for the development of the rural environment and for small-size farms to achieve performance. It is the proof of the efficiency of the small farm association, and it can be a model for the hills of Romania,” the head of state said.

The head of state said agriculture will be paid more attention in the next year’s budget and he will personally engage in showing the value of agriculture and tourism.

The head of state on Friday visited fruit-tree orchards and attended a horticultural seminar in Arad county, western Romania.

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