Romania hopes to boost cooperation with Poland in economy, culture and science before Romania's EU entry, Romania's Ambassador to Poland Gabriel Constantin Bartas said Wednesday.

Gabriel Constantin Bartas made the remarks in the western Polish city of Zielona Gora, where he met with local government representatives to discuss the current and future cooperation with western Poland's Lubuskie province,the Polish new agency PAP reported.

After his meeting with Zielona Gora mayor Bozena Ronowicz, the Romanian ambassador said his country was interested in broader cooperation with Poland.

Trade volume between Romania and Poland stood at over 1 billion euro (1.28 billion U.S. dollars) last year, according to Gabriel Constantin Bartas.

He hoped that Polish and Romanian winemaking firms would establish cooperation.

The ambassador stressed that Romania should join the EU on Jan. 1, 2007 as scheduled.

Source: Xinhua