Mugur Isărescu: Overcoming economic problems, the experiences of
Sweden and Turkey - an inspiration for Romania?
Opening speech by Mr Mugur Isărescu, Governor of the National Bank of Romania, at the
conference "Overcoming economic problems, the experiences of Sweden and Turkey - an
inspiration for Romania?", Bucharest, 23 September 2013.
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Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Excellences, Distinguished Guests
It is a pleasure for me to welcome you to the National Bank of Romania. I salute the
presence of such a distinguished audience: Their Excellences, the Ambassadors of Sweden,
Turkey, Brazil, Cyprus, Germany, the Netherlands, members of the diplomatic corps,
economists, bankers, businessmen, journalists.
We are honored to host this international conference: "Overcoming economic problems, the
experiences of Sweden and Turkey: are these an inspiration for Romania?" The title is, I
believe, self-explanatory. In today's globalized world, learning from other countries'
experience is of utmost importance. And while it might be true that no one really learns but
from his own mistakes, one can hope that some other mistakes may be avoided when
learning from other people's experiences.
Why Sweden and Turkey? Before answering this question I wish to emphasize that the
National Bank of Romania is open and willing to host other conferences with similar topics.
And today's conference might be considered the first of a series, involving clusters of
countries with relevant interactions. With reference to the question above, I can tell you that
there have been several reasons to begin with these three countries, but the main reason for
which we compare today the present situation in Sweden, Turkey and Romania is due to the
diligent and assiduous activity of the Ambassadors of these two countries in Bucharest.
Then, I would like to salute their presence here today: His Excellency Mr. Anders Bengtcén,
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden, and His Excellency Mr. Ömür Şölendil, Ambassador
of the Republic of Turkey and to particularly extend my gratitude to them and to all the
persons involved in the materialization of this conference.
I also thank Mr. Klas Eklund, Senior Economist at the Swedish Bank SEB and Adjunct
Professor of Economics at the Lund University and Mr. Çağri Memişoğlu, Deputy General
Manager at Garanti Bank Romania.
There are, of course, historical links between the three countries. I do take this opportunity to
highlight a few of them.
With the Republic of Turkey one could go back to the proclamation of the new state as a
republic, last century, and even more, centuries of ties between the Romanian Principalities
and the Ottoman Empire. I also like to notice the connection between our two central banks.
In the National Bank of Romania's archives there are letters, exchanged between Governor
Mitiță Constantinescu and Governor Salâhattin Çam, regarding the organization of a
conference for the governors of the central banks in the Balkanic Coalition, in November
1937, in Ankara. Now, both central banks are members of the Club of Governors of the Black
Sea Area.
Regarding Sweden I will grasp your attention with a historical moment that incidentally
connects Sweden with Bucharest and the Ottoman Empire. One of Bucharest's landmarks,
the Colţei Tower (part of the Colţei Hospital which you can see across the Boulevard) has
been built in the early XVIII century by the Swedish soldiers, during King Charles XII retreat
to Adrianople after his failed campaign in Russia.
I will end now my brief journey into history, which has not been nor exhaustive, not even
relevant, and get back to our conference topic.
During the debate one should not forget that the size of the economies and the development
level is different in these three countries. For example in a list compiled by the International
Monetary Fund for the year 2012, Turkey ranks 17th, with a nominal GDP of 795 billion
dollars, while Sweden ranks 22th, with a nominal GDP of 525 billion dollars (Romania is
56th, with 170 billion dollars). GDP/capita is also rather different.
I do hope that this conference will elicit a lively debate. I believe that we have much to learn
from the Swedish and Turkish experience since they have been market economies for a
longer period of time compared to Romania.
I kindly invite Their Excellences the Ambassadors of Turkey and Sweden to address the
audience and to introduce their speakers. The debate will be moderated by Mr. Valentin
Lazea, the National Bank of Romania Chief Economist.
Thank you for attending this conference, which I do hope will turn out to be a very successful
one.