Bucharest, April 5 /Rompres/ - The Romanian-American Foundation will finance projects in the field of education and will offer study loans to Romanian students, starting initially form a 150 million dollar financing, which will be the basis for a sum that may top one billion dollars, said Premier Calin Popescu-Tariceanu on Friday.

Tariceanu explained that the Romanian-American Foundation, which was made public by President George W Bush, would give students loans to get their training. The students are to return this money in time.

'This is an American system, which will stimulate and strengthen individual responsibility,' said the Romanian Premier, who added that the students can thus attend even universities in the US.

But Tariceanu also said that, by getting the banks involved, the 150 million dollar budget of the foundation, which is used for co-financing these projects, might lead to a much larger sums of money to be given to the students.

'This money, 150 million dollars, can be the basis for a financing that might lead to the sum of one billion dollars. This is no exaggeration. This is the contribution the foundation will make from the very beginning and it goes without saying that the banks can grant loans considering the participation of the Foundation,' explained Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu.

The President of the United States of America, George W Bush, made public on Wednesday the setting up of the Romanian-American Foundation, 'a gift of the American people for the Romanian people,' also informed the US Embassy in a press release.

The Romanian American Foundation, with an endowment of approximately 150 million USD, will advance private sector economic development and conditions for democratic stability by support for non-profit institutions, according to the quoted source.

In a first stage the Foundation will concentrate its activity on educational and entrepreneurial programmes, devoted especially to the geographical area and social groups that have limited access to resources. For instance, it will consider study loans, scholarships, counseling and internships, other projects supporting private sector development, including partnerships and exchanges with U.S. institutions and organizations.

The Foundation objective is to promote innovative approaches to education and training that will lead to socio-economic development, stimulate the private initiative, and create new jobs.

At later stages, the Foundation may expand the focus to include community development and support for the non-profit sector in addressing critical social problems through social entrepreneurship. The Foundation will seek to support projects, ideas and organizations that are catalytic and can have broad impact, as well as creating potential for being successfully replicated, thus encouraging other financiers or partners to follow suit, the US Embassy also said.

[Source: Romanian National News Agency ROMPRES ]