Aurelian Gogulescu , President of The Prahova Chamber of Commerce
Aurelian Gogulescu , President of The Prahova Chamber of Commerce

The Prahova Chamber of Commerce has positioned itself as an essential advocate for Prahova County’s business community. It is part of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce system, which was recently restructured to enhance its services for the private sector. President Aurelian Gogulescu points out, “Membership in the Chamber is voluntary, so we work hard to make sure that joining our group is a big plus for companies. We are very innovative in the services we offer and in the activities we organise.”

The Chamber has two main goals: to help local companies be more competitive in international markets, and to attract foreign investors and companies to do business in Prahova County. The Chamber has been very successful in both areas, and now around 2,000 foreign enterprises from 70 countries operate in Prahova.

Strong investment appeal

Aurelian Gogulescu highlights the county’s investment attractions. He says, “Prahova County has a strategic location and its capital, Ploiesti, is easier to reach from the international airport than Bucharest is. The county also has very skilled human resources, low unemployment, well developed infrastructure, a pleasant climate and strong research and educational institutions, including the Oil and Gas University. On top of all this, Prahova County offers excellent quality of life and Romania’sbest red wine – Fetesca Neagra. The Chamber of Commerce helped set up a joint wine venture with China, and now Prahova has strong business ties with China in this field, among many others. In this respect, it is worthwhile mentioning that the Prahova Chamber of Commerce and Industry has a branch in Shanghai, which is very helpful in establishing safe and effective business relations between the Romanian and Chinese business communities. This overseas branch of the Chamber, along with the existence of an excellent foreign affairs network, made up of 70 Cooperation Agreements with foreign homologues and partners, as well as the fact that our headquarters in Ploiesti host the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Macedonia to Romania, which I proudly represent as Honorary Consul – generate an important background for our foreign relations and international cooperation’ activity, including the attraction of foreign investors.”

Additional advantages for investors are Prahova County’s 10 state-of-the-art industrial parks, five created with public funds and five with private capital. Aurelian Gogulescu notes, “Prahova County continues to attract international investors. There has been a snowball effect; for example, when one American company comes here and is successful, many more American companies follow.”

Since Prahova County’s economy is dominated by oil and gas sector, many of the Chamber’s initiatives are designed to support companies in these industries, but the Chamber is also getting involved in attracting investment in new sectors, including agriculture, environmental technologies, renewable energy and tourism. Aurelian Gogulescu says, “Oil and gas will remain the county’s leading industries for some time to come, but Prahova County has exceptional potential to develop other types of business activities. Other top priorities for the Chamber are to support SMEs and to encourage the creation of training programmes. The Prahova Chamber of Commerce will continue to help all our companies reach new markets and achieve success.”