Between May 1 and May 8, the Romanian Festival of 2001 and the economic mission, organized by MIC & Associates, and ZIUA USA opened its doors for all New Yorkers and its business community. The Festival was a unique opportunity for business people, politicians, diplomats as well as for friends of Romania to congregate and celebrate Romanian folk music, dance, food, crafts and much more. Several executives from top Romanian firms met with their American counterparts to explore business opportunities during the economic mission preceding the Festival. And on May 4th, Wall Street, the financial capital of the world, became alive with Romanian culture, history, music, and food.
With generous support from various sponsors and the approval of New York City’s Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, a portion of Wall Street was closed to traffic on this day between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm so the Romanian Festival could enjoy a large space in the downtown district.
Several Romanian and American politicians, high-ranking diplomats and business people attended the fair. Former Romanian President, Emil Constatinescu, and Romanian Minister of Tourism, Dan Matei Agathon, were among the Romanian government delegation in attendance. Former Prime minister and the current governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isarescu was in town that week and met with executives from MIC & Associates.
At the end of the day, May 4th was officially declared “Romanian National Day” in New York by a City Hall proclamation signed by Rudolph Giuliani.