Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, attending on Wednesday the ceremony for the signing of the financing contracts under the Important Project of Common European Interest in the field of Microelectronics and Communication Technologies, emphasized the importance of "these major investments" included in the NRRP, which support the development of Romanian microelectronics, one of the great challenges at European and world level.

"It is very important that we succeed to courageously tackle one of the major European and global challenges of our time. This project will help us to structure and develop our competencies in the design and manufacture of microelectronic system components. It is essential for us to develop this way a national, coherent value chain in this vital field for the future of any developed economy. This will then allow us to accelerate the application of advanced technologies in key fields of the national economy, such as the automotive industry," Ciolacu said at the government. headquarters.

He added that the project represents an example of success in that it brings together "three key actors", namely the Romanian state - acting as a state aid provider; private companies of high repute like Continental, Bosch or NXP, with major expertise in advanced technologies; and the academic milieu, that puts dozens of students who represent the elite of their respective fields in contact with the business world's top performers.

Ciolacu added that these projects that bring together microelectronics and the automotive industry can have "considerable economic multiplier effect".

"Taking into account the GDP share of the automotive industry, which is around 13%, and its relevance for the national economy, these projects that bring together microelectronics and the automotive industry, can have considerable economic multiplier effect. (...) I think that this is the ideal project as a structure, because alongside the companies, it involves 24 entities from the academic environment and SMEs, with direct and indirect participants. In total, the funding granted to the three projects, both directly to the companies and to the indirect partners, is of 420 million euros. (...) It also means the creation of elite specializations for Romanian super-engineers all the big world companies will battle to have. (...) I saw what an incredible list of technological innovations these projects bring about and I chose examples from each one: augmented reality laser devices for projections on car displays, a new concept for the future braking system - all through advanced electronic mechanisms, an electronic platform for automated driving, the development of revolutionary digital radar products, plus new chip, processor and algorithm technologies. All these highlight the huge potential of our economy and the fact that we cannot afford to miss this train of the development of new technologies. It is the most important train and it might be the last one for our country. It's a historic chance we cannot afford to pass up," concluded Ciolacu.

The ministers who signed the contracts, namely Economy Minister Radu Oprea, and Minister of European Investments and Projects Adrian Caciu, highlighted the importance of microelectronics for Romania.

"We have to regain our competitiveness. The fact that we can enrich R & D with added value in the Romanian automotive industry - this is the future. It's Romania and the Romanian automotive industry's chance to regain its competitiveness. (...) What rally matters is that the automotive industry, with the main manufacturers, is one of the important development drivers. (...) I think that the major gain will not be just the boost in competitiveness, but the creation of the super-engineers we need, those engineers specializing in microelectronics, so that we are able to develop new companies," Oprea said among others.

Romania's development cannot be achieved without a partnership between society, the economic environment, the state, and the academic milieu, Adrian Caciu said, pointing out that "it's the only type of approach that can take Romania further, in which all parties are involved and have the responsibility to achieve progress. It is also a paradigm that I consider to be fulfilled, of decentralizing European funds."

The contracts were signed by the two ministers and Continental Romania Country Head Christian Albrichsfeld, Bosch Romania CEO Mihai Boldijar, and NXP Semiconductors Romania Country Manager Simona Almajan. AGERPRES (RO - author: Sorinel Penes, editor: Florin Marin; EN - editor: Simona Klodnsichi)