Bhubaneswar: Soon, Odisha will send skilled manpower to European nation Romania, which is now facing the shortage of around 1 million trained workers and professionals.

The state government has initiated process for facilitating the migration of skilled workers and professionals from Odisha to the European nation after receiving two successive letters from Manoj Kumar Mohapatra, the Indian Ambassador to Romania. 

In his letters to Chief Secretary Anu Garg, Mohapatra highlighted that Romania has huge shortage of skilled manpower and the European country is open to recruit 20,000 to 50,000 workers from India annually for next 10 years. So, Odisha and other states can take advantage of the situation and send trained workers to Romania.

According to Mohapatra, the Government of India and the Romanian authorities are finalizing Social Security Agreement and Mobility Partnership Agreement, facilitating the legal migration of skilled workforce from India to the European country.

“Romania is a European nation and a member of Schengen. It would become the gateway of India for the European Union (EU),” said Mohapatra.

The Indian Ambassador has also urged the Odisha government to send a business delegation to Romania to explore export opportunities.

“The exports from India to Romania has crossed $ 1 billion recently. India has also signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU). The FTA would enable the exporters of India to get the market access to the EU through Romania,” Mohapatra added.

The Indian envoy further revealed that Cluj-Napoca, a Romanian city with around 3 lakh population, has proposed to collaborate with Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha, under the Sister City Cooperation.  

“The Odisha government should send a delegation to Romania in this year to explore opportunities for cooperation in various fields,” stated Mohapatra.