Foreword

Only a few years away, early in the next century, Europe will be a hungry market for energy. At the rate consumption has been growing (16 per cent between 1985 and 1995), traditional sources will simply not be able to cope with the demand. Worldwide competition for secure supplies of energy is expected to grow.

An answer to that challenge is now coming from the oil and gas rich area of the Caspian which is currently being developed. Huge investments by major multinational companies have already been committed into exploration, production and infrastructure. Most of the pipelines which will become operational in the next year or so have their outlets on the eastern shores of the Black Sea. However, the wider region of the Caspian also contains other important and largely untapped resources in vast amounts, including a variety of minerals, cotton, etc. Above all, the opening of that region to international business is definitely not a one-way track. It is poised to become a burgeoning and lucrative market. The opportunities are immense.

Romania is uniquely positioned to become an active and reliable partner to all those who are taking an interest in the revival of the old Silk Road crossing the entire Euro-Asian land mass from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This paper sketches out just some of Romania's natural assets. Further practical action is envisaged at executive level in order to back up the Romanian offer with hard facts and figures.

In the meantime, it makes a lot of business sense to explore the existing opportunities. One brief look at the map should be enough of an incentive for meaningful action. The time to start doing so is now.