La Francophonie is not only a common space of culture and civilisation, but also a space for the promotion of business, because a common language and its elements create the first step in terms of cooperation, Adrian-Victor Vevera, general director of the National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics - ICI Bucharest, said on Wednesday, at a specialist event.

'La Francophonie is not only a common space of culture and civilisation, but also a place for business promotion, because a common language and common elements create the first step in terms of the area of cooperation. We want to be more than a bridge; we want to be a hub that can bring together the creative energies of the French-speaking area with those of Romania. After all, technology changes society and changes it profoundly, changes it majorly, and changes it not only in Europe, but it also changes it all over the world,' Vevera said.

He added that ICI Bucharest is a national institute for research and development in informatics, coordinated by the government, but which is self-financed and does not use public funds.

'That means that we can be a bridge between the governmental area and the academic, research area and the private area. It has been almost 9 years since, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we have been a hub for the promotion of new technologies for Africa and the Middle East. In this context, we have had a lot of contacts and cooperation projects with countries in the African area, but also with other areas, and we have also been members of the La Francophonie Organisation for a long time, on the academic side.'

Vevera added that ICI Bucharest places special emphasis on fundamental research in computer science.

'We still have the fundamental research part at the institute because without it, one cannot reach the area of applied research. (...) Without networking in terms of technology, cybersecurity and AI, which means data, you can't go further, you can't make island developments.'

Vevera participated in the panel 'Intersectoral exchanges in the digital sector,' part of a business event of French-speaking countries.

A new trade mission of La Francophonie in Central and Eastern Europe takes place on Wednesday and Thursday in Bucharest.

Romania was selected to host a new such event following the success of a March 2024 mission, also organised in Bucharest, by ARICE, in partnership with the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF).

The objective of the mission is to stimulate trade, investment and economic cooperation among French-speaking countries, bringing together companies from the member states of the international organisation La Francophonie, with a focus on two sectors with an important potential for cooperation: the IT sector (including cybersecurity) and the pharmaceutical industry.

According to organisers, sectoral panels are organised by experts from the IT and pharmaceutical fields, B2B business meetings and visits to Romanian companies operating in the two sectors, in order to identify concrete opportunities for collaboration.

For Romania, this event is part of the efforts to reconnect with the previously traditional markets, as the French-speaking space is bringing together 88 countries from all continents. AGERPRES (A - editor: Cristian Anghelache, editor: Andreea Marinescu)