Heavyweights of the international financial world, major diplomats and representatives of big international corporations met last weekend in Bucharest at the regional European meeting of the Trilateral Commission - a private think tank that debates international matters, which was established in 1973.

Surrounded by the discretion specific to a non-official group, consisting of the world's most influential figures, the meeting was hosted by Mugur Isărescu, governor of the NBR (National Bank of Romania). He and Mihai Tănăsescu, Romania's representative to the IMF, are the only Romanian members of the Trilateral.

This was the occasion that brought to Romania major international finance figures such as Peter Sutherland, chairman of Goldman Sachs International and of the London School of Economics, and Jacob Frenkel, chairman of JP Morgan Chase International, former governor of Israel's central bank. Other participants to the Bucharest debates on regional matters and on the European crisis included Mario Monti, European chairman of the Trilateral, who is also president of the famous Bocconi University in Italy, and former EU competition commissioner, Wolfgang Ischinger, head of Allianz's government relations, former German ambassador to the United States, and Nigel Higgins, chief executive of the Rothschild Group.

Talks were held on Saturday at the NBR headquarters and on Sunday at the Radisson hotel, with the occasion being marked by two receptions held on Friday by Premier Emil Boc at the Hilton hotel, and on Saturday by President Traian Băsescu at the Cotroceni Palace.

This was a rare opportunity for influential people on the international scene to find out more about the economic and political situation in Romania, especially in the context of the crisis. Beyond the first impression of a country prone to social turmoil and political scand