Bucharest, Sep 22 /Agerpres/ - President Klaus Iohannis had a bilateral meeting in New York on Wednesday with the Secretary General of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), Louise Mushikiwabo, on the sidelines of his participation in the high-level segment of the 76th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

According to a release of the Presidential Administration sent to AGERPRES, the discussions focused on a wide range of topics regarding Romania's cooperation with the OIF, starting from Romania's role of flagship country of Francophonie in the region and in the world.

At the same time, the theme of preparations for the XVIII Summit of Francophonie (Tunisia, Djerba Island, November 20-21, 2021), dedicated to Connectivity in Diversity and Digital Technology as a vector of development and solidarity in the Francophone space was addressed.

During the bilateral dialogue, special attention was paid to collaboration at the level of education and research initiatives. In this context, President Iohannis welcomed the opening of Secretary General Louise Mushikiwabo to share with the OIF member states and in partnership with the Organization the conclusions, identified axes and strategies for a successful and improved education system, as will result from the implementation of the project launched at the initiative of the President of Romania.

The Secretary General of the OIF welcomed the role that Romania plays at the level of the Organization, including in terms of intra-francophone solidarity, appreciating, among other things, Romania's voluntary contribution to the solidarity fund created by the International Organization of Francophonie for Women, La Francophonie avec Elles , as well as the granting - uninterruptedly, since 2007 - of doctoral and post-doctoral research fellowships through the "Eugen Ionescu" program and the granting of voluntary humanitarian and international development contributions, mainly through the UN agencies present in the field. AGERPRES (RO - author: Oana Ghita, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Bogdan Gabaroi)