00:07 Hello,
00:08 this is Alexandra Kalin.
00:09 I'm a disaster risk management specialist for the World Bank,
00:12 and I'm joined by Same Wakwa,
00:14 the regional director for the World Bank.
00:17 Welcome,
00:17 Same.
00:19 What do you think
00:20 are the most critical challenges that Romania
00:22 is facing in terms of sustainable development?
00:25 So Romania is an EU country.
00:28 Growth and development and progress has happened on a lot of fronts.
00:31 There are still some challenges,
00:33 one of which is the high level of inequality
00:35 and the Still quite a bit of persistent poverty.
00:38 It's the country with the highest poverty rate in the European Union,
00:41 access to basic services like water and sanitation,
00:44 which leads some to talk about the tale of the two Romanians.
00:48 At the same time,
00:50 when you add to it the impact of
00:53 the war in Ukraine,
00:55 the Russian invasion,
00:57 and the increasing levels of volatility in terms of increased energy prices,
01:01 food prices,
01:02 and the shocks it causes to the Economy
01:04 and then lastly the ongoing impact of changing
01:09 climate and especially what it means in terms
01:11 of the increasing frequency and severity of disasters,
01:15 the
01:16 increase in water scarcity,
01:17 all of which impose serious challenges also on
01:21 the
01:21 population and on the vulnerable segments of the population.
01:24 So do you have any advice on what Romania could do to address these challenges?
01:28 The challenges become also opportunities for
01:31 development,
01:32 for
01:32 We're working with the government
01:34 on addressing the issue of water scarcity and addressing the issue of
01:39 how do you improve the efficiency of the use of resources,
01:42 whether it's water,
01:43 whether how do you reduce the pollution from agriculture.
01:46 On the other hand,
01:47 for instance,
01:48 there's a lot of work that's needed on inclusion
01:50 and certain types of measures to help support the most vulnerable populations,
01:55 and it's a challenge that at the World Bank
01:57 we embrace and we're delighted to work with the Romanian government on this.
02:08 So we got to one of the sites of one of our
02:11 projects that is strengthening the critical
02:13 infrastructure such as a fire station.
02:15 What do you think about this project?
02:17 So this is an excellent project to upgrade,
02:20 rehabilitate,
02:21 modernize the firefighting.
02:23 Infrastructure in Romania by undertaking a seismic retrofit
02:28 or reconstruction of the major firefighting facilities,
02:32 modernize them,
02:33 equip them to modern standards,
02:35 but also improve their energy efficiency and operational capability.
02:38 This site over here in Obor,
02:40 construction just started in June.
02:43 Already.
02:43 The site is progressing very well.
02:45 It was demolished and construction progressed,
02:48 in fact,
02:48 beating their operational schedule.
02:50 It's a facility that serves 200,000 people,
02:53 and the project is basically rebuilding
02:55 about 7 and then rehabilitating and improving
02:59 another 3 for.
03:00 10
03:01 fire stations,
03:02 so fantastic work that is really helping
03:04 modernize emergency services by focusing on firefighters and
03:09 that are
03:11 equipped for the 21st century.
03:12 So really great to see the progress that's happening,
03:15 including the risk mapping and all the other
03:18 institutional and technical improvements to the emergency services.
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