The Francophone community encompasses 90 countries across five continents, representing 17.5% of the world's population, 16.5% of global GDP, 20% of global merchandise trade and 14% of global mineral and energy resource reserves, Eric Poppe, representative of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) for Central and Eastern Europe, said on Wednesday at a specialist event.

'The OIF attaches particular importance to developing economic cooperation within the Francophone community, in line with the objectives of the Francophonie Economic Strategy 2020-2027. The Francophone community comprises 90 states and governments spread across five continents, representing 17.5% of the world's population, 16.5% of global GDP, 20% of global merchandise trade and 14% of global mineral and energy resource reserves. The OIF's commitment to promoting economic cooperation therefore aims to make the Francophone community a genuine area of shared growth for its member states and governments, a space for innovation, a space of opportunity for businesses and a source of job creation,' Poppe emphasised.

According to him, over the past four years, the OIF has organised economic missions that have connected, on average, more than 200 Francophone companies from around the world in order to develop partnerships in targeted sectors such as agribusiness, digital transformation, the pharmaceutical industry, cultural and creative industries, the energy transition and many others.

The OIF representative added that, following the sixth edition held in June 2025 in Cotonou, Benin, the Francophonie's economic missions have brought together more than 2,000 companies, 72% of which established new partnerships. Altogether, these economic missions generated around 5,000 business meetings and resulted in approximately 100 agreements representing a turnover of 45 million euro.

A new Francophonie economic mission in Central and Eastern Europe is taking place in Bucharest on Wednesday and Thursday.

Romania was selected to host another such event following the success of the March 2024 mission, which was also organised in Bucharest by Romanian Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (ARICE) in partnership with the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF).

The mission aims to promote trade, investment and economic cooperation among Francophone countries, bringing together companies from member states of the international Francophonie, with a focus on two sectors offering significant cooperation potential: the IT sector, including cyber security, and the pharmaceutical industry.

According to the organisers, sector-specific panels led by experts from the IT and pharmaceutical fields, B2B business meetings and visits to Romanian companies active in these two sectors are being organised in order to identify concrete collaboration opportunities.

For Romania, this event forms part of efforts to reconnect with previously traditional markets, with the Francophone sphere bringing together 88 countries across all continents. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Cristian Anghelache; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)