major factor in advancing this project as well, but also the future ones. let me also underline the major role played by the successive top - management teams of the national bank of moldova in carrying out these numerous bilateral cooperation projects and i take this opportunity to thank them and express my appreciation to those with whom we have worked. ladies and gentlemen, we find ourselves, today, at a juncture where governments and central banks alike have promptly stepped in globally to counter the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic through social, economic, fiscal and monetary policies. the unprecedented mobilisation of the authorities 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches in a complex and determined manner has largely ensured the proper functioning of markets, and of the economic and social mechanisms. in this regard, enhancing the response capacity to adverse situations is essential, and this goal can also be achieved by strengthening corporate governance, supervision, and risk management in the financial sector. these are the key coordinates of the new twinning programme as well. the twinning project we are launching today has a wide scope, not only for the banking sector, but also for the entire financial market in the republic of moldova. it aims to be beneficial for both the national bank of moldova and the national commission for financial markets of the republic of moldova, by strengthening institutional capacity and governance, as well as developing the regulatory, supervisory and operational frameworks for enhanced functionality. from my perspective, the national bank of romania has gained over time, after 1990, with the support of its partners in the european union – including the support of de nederlandsche bank, which i would like to mention explicitly – a solid experience and expertise. it is now our turn and duty, as senior partner in this twinning project, to pass on the know - how to the republic of moldova and we are able to do this efficiently, having the advantage of the romanian language. the complexity of the new project, over the two - year period, brings together a remarkable project team. the activity will comprise five highly technical components, in the areas of financial macrostability, prudential supervision, the non - bank financial sector, the internal regulatory framework for supervision and the regulatory framework for payment infrastructure and its functionality at european standards. on this occasion, i express my deep gratitude to our current partners – de nederlandsche bank, lietuvos bankas, as well as the romanian financial supervisory authority and the romanian national authority for consumer protection. let me conclude by wishing success

the problems linked to energy, pollution, navigation and the protection of natural areas. the outcome was a large amount of conclusions that were distributed to over a thousand scientists, decision - makers and journalists. it had specific recommendations for each country involved. it was for the first time when such a complete vision of the danube was unveiled. all these facts constitute reasons that lead the european commission to recognize the importance of danube as being “ the single most important non - oceanic body of water in europe ” and “ a future central axis for the european union ”. but there still remains a major issue regarding this subject – the danube basin is still not used to its full potential. its remarkable business prospective is yet to be taken advantage of in terms of agriculture, bis central bankers ’ speeches energy sources, wastewater disposal, industrial or even recreational purposes. this massive potential alone is not enough to implement a business plan ; it certainly needs vision and funding. and financing is exactly the main issue upon which the today conference focuses. for instance, one could take inspiration in the rhine basin management project which turned the rhine into europe ’ s most densely navigated shipping route. it connects world ’ s largest seaport, rotterdam, with world ’ s largest inland port, duisburg, although the rhine ’ s length is less than a half of danube ’ s. and while large sections of the upper danube in germany and austria have been regulated, the areas of the lower and middle danube were not. i strongly believe that middle and lower danube and the danube delta offer a great business potential for investment projects. to refer only to big projects some have been finalized, as it is the case of the danube - black sea canal, which runs from cernavoda, on the danube, to constanta ( southern arm, as main branch ), and to navodari ( northern arm ), on the black sea. other big projects are still in progress, such as the danube – bucharest canal, a 73 - kilometre long canal project that is planned to link bucharest to the danube via arges river. thus, at the completion of this project danube could become home for five capitals, including bucharest. this conference has two main objectives. one is to bring together romanian financial sector representatives and project initiators ; the other one is to find appropriate financial instruments to better highlight the remarkable business potential of the lower danube basin. i do hope this conference is going to offer you all the opportunity for successful networking and may you find appropriate solutions