BY LEE SHAW WEI & JASMINE BADUN
In her inaugural official visit to Sarawak since her appointment as the Ambassador of Romania to Malaysia in January 22, 2021, Nineta Barbulescu was amazed to discover what the state had to offer in terms of business, culture and education opportunities in her six-day visit last month from 14 to 19.
The 54-year-old, who is also appointed as the Ambassador of Romania to Brunei Darussalam in March 2, 2021, had a series of courtesy calls with the Head of State and Sarawak government officials.
She also had the chance to visit the Borneo Culture Museum, the Sarawak Cultural Village and attend a ‘Mada Ayu’ hosted by the Lun Bawang community.
Throughout her meetings, she said her country, Romania, will be working closely with Sarawak in various sectors and develop projects that will benefit both sides.
Last month, Nineta had the opportunity to sit down with New Sarawak Tribune and sister paper Suara Sarawak, where she shared her experiences of being in the state as well as announcing some future cooperation projects with Sarawak.
NST & SS: During your courtesy calls to the Head of State and several Sarawak Cabinet Ministers, were there any trade or investment talks? If so, what can we expect from them?
Nineta: Both countries — Romania and Malaysia, including Sarawak — have a lot to offer to each other in the trade field. One of the simple ways to do this is to know each other better.
I have spoken with the Head of State Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud on the possibility of future exchanges of courtesy visits as well as identifying shorter routes to Romania. One of the shorter routes to Romania is via Istanbul in Turkey.
Aside from that, I have exchanged views with Deputy Premier of Sarawak Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan, who is also the Second Minister for Natural Resources and Urban Development and Minister for International Trade and Investment, on how to stimulate and facilitate better business and trade contacts as well as investment cooperation.
On November 10 last year, I presented my credentials (as Romania’s envoy to Malaysia) to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah at Istana Negara, Kuala Lumpur. So since then, I am trying and engaging with various states in Malaysia and this month (March) marks a good month to start cooperation projects in Sarawak.
NST & SS: As Romania is known for its production in the transportation and automotive sector, will there be a collaboration between Romania and Sarawak in this field? Is Romania ready to share knowledge and expertise with the Sarawak government to transform transportation?
Nineta: Absolutely, we are ready to share our knowledge and expertise with Sarawak to transform transportation, especially in public transport.
I have spoken with both mayors (Kuching South City Council (MBKS) and Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) because they have underlined the importance for Kuching to become a smart city. That being said, connectivity is one of the main ingredients for smart city.
I hope that the local government and businessmen in Sarawak can establish strong cooperation with Romania in this field. I also hope to have a project in this field with Sarawak, no matter how small or large it is. This cooperation will yield greater results than we have at the moment.
NST & SS: Education plays an important part in Sarawak, especially for the rural communities. Will Romania be interested to develop any project in this field with Sarawak?
Nineta: Indeed, I have spoken to the Minister for Education, Innovation and Talent Development Datuk Roland Sagah Wee Inn and touched on education projects for the remote communities in Sarawak.
As mentioned, education is important and perhaps with these (projects), it can help the communities. Since Internet is a resource that is free and available for everyone, I feel that this might help the remote communities with education.
In my previous experience serving as an envoy in the Pacific Islands, we have developed a very specific project there and I feel that it might be of interest in Sarawak.
The use of Internet is not just only about linking with families and friends; you are also linked with the world and you are more informed, better prepared and more receptive towards what is going on. The last two years (during the COVID-19 epidemic) have showed us what it really means to be better informed and understand what is going on in our respective countries.
NST & SS: Will Romania be open to the idea of establishing friendship cities with Kuching after your meetings with Kuching’s two mayors?
Nineta: Of course, we have agreed to identify at least two Romanian cities in order to create friendship or a partnership. With the pandemic and security situation in Europe, we might have to conduct this via virtual contact to identify the right city for friendships with Kuching.
NST & SS: In Your Excellency’s visit to Head of Council for Native Customs and Tradition Datuk Ronnie Edward, is there any expectation of exchange visits between ethnic groups from Romania and Sarawak?
Nineta: Yes, once the security situation (in Europe) permits, I will be more than happy to facilitate exchange of visits to learn more about each other’s traditions and to cherish more is to learn more.
Therefore, I will do my utmost as Romania’s Ambassador to Malaysia to initiate contacts between various associations of ethnic groups (in Sarawak) with similar comparable organisations in my country.
As a person with legal background, it is interesting to learn more about native customs and interactions with the civil law as well as the Syariah law. Being an Ambassador for Romania, a country with 20 ethnic minorities, I have a certain understanding on what we need to achieve harmony among our society.
NST & SS: As the Romanian Ambassador in Malaysia, which field do your country want to learn from Malaysia and work together?
Nineta: One of the fields in Malaysia, which might be seem a little bit small but it is of interest for Romania, is solar panel production. Malaysia is an interesting producer of solar panels and it is ranked third in the world.
Renewable energy will remain a strong point to reduce carbon footprints in the world.
Romania has a national plan for resilience and recovery which will be financed by the European Union for the next five years at a sum of 29 billion Euros.
This will be allocated to various projects that are needed in my country such as infrastructure projects, installation of renewable solar panels on buildings, reducing the people’s bills and floating solar.
NST & SS: Touching on renewable and clean energies, will there be any academic projects among varsities between Romania and Sarawak following your meeting with UNIMAS?
Nineta: In the future, perhaps. I am looking forward to more contacts with universities in my country to have exchange of visits. We might start (exchange of visits) with one of the research centres in UNIMAS.
I was impressed by the variety of research centres and we may start one or two projects with the centre, which is focusing on renewable energies and clean energies.
Renewable and clean energies are the future, not just for Sarawak and Romania but for mankind because if we want to preserve the Earth for the next generation, then we need to have a brighter and clean world. So, this will be one area of mutual interest.
NST & SS: Are there other topics of interest for Romania, aside from the renewable and clean energies?
Nineta: I am also interested in developing a project, a soft diplomacy project, on Borneo studies which were studied by Romanian professor, Professor Mircea Eliade, the founding father of philosophy of religions.
He was a professor of many decades at the University of Chicago. He wrote several books as well as studied various ethnic groups worldwide, including Borneo ethnic groups and other Australian groups.
In my previous experience serving as an envoy in the Pacific Islands, they have vibrant collections of artifacts but here (in Sarawak), it is not about the objects instead, it is about the legends and the stories behind the objects.
It’s about the people who created the objects and I am profoundly impressed by the similarities in cultural terms. So, this is something that I am more than pleased to study forever and I am very pleasant and happy that I found several doors open to have this upcoming project.
NST & SS: During your visit to Sarawak, you had the opportunity to visit the Sarawak Cultural Village, Borneo Cultures Museum and other places. What do you think about the state’s tourism products or delicacies?
Nineta: I have just learned about the tourism tagline in Sarawak — ‘More to Discover’ and I felt it in my flesh and blood as there is indeed a lot to discover.
I was also very impressed with the cultural houses and traditional performances in Sarawak Cultural Village as well as the state-of-the-art museum in Malaysia.
During my visit, my delegation and I had a wonderful gathering, a ‘Mada Ayu’ night hosted by the Lun Bawang community. We learned a lot of things about their music, musical instruments, legends and food. We also exchanged some recipes and I hope that we are able to plan a workshop between Romania and Sarawak where we can exchange life experiences and traditional dishes.
NST & SS: Since your appointment in 2021, what are your thoughts about our political state over here?
Nineta: There will be a lot of young voters in the coming election, which is due next year. I think that it is tremendous that the new force will be the young people as the legal age to vote in Malaysia is now 18 years old.
Hence, this is important as it is not only about what or who you choose. It is important to be informed and to understand what should be done and what can be done.
As an ambassador of a foreign country, I cannot comment more but I just want to assure that any foreign ambassador in Malaysia and any other country knows that when it’s time for an election, the country needs to take its time.
