InvestRomania is the government organization dedicated to providing professional support and advice to foreign investors in Romania. Its purpose is to attract and facilitate foreign direct investment in Romania and support new or existing Romanian companies leverage their capabilities to expand to new markets. Manuel Costescu, Secretary of State, discusses FDI trends in Romania and cites opportunities for investors.
European Times: What are some current trends in FDI in Romania?
Manuel Costescu: Romania offers outstanding advantages for foreign investors, including a growing economy, a safe environment (especially compared to many other developing countries), a very pro-business government with clear priorities, competitive labour costs and high quality of life. Romania has evolved from a country investors targeted because of cheap labour to one which offers outstanding multilingual talent and quality. The proof of this is in the many long-term investors who are increasing their investment in Romania and developing more complex projects here. Some investors entered the market five or ten years ago with basic manufacturing and are now branching out into more technologically sophisticated projects. They are also hiring mainly Romanians. Bosch, for example, recently reported that its operation in Romania produced five million units in 2015 with a zero error rate. TechnoSteel, an Italian investment, began with a small project and now manufactures complex automotive and electrical components here in Romania. Our many R&D centres are an additional advantage for investors like Siemens and NASA.
European Times: What are some of your challenges in attracting FDI?
Manuel Costescu: Romania’s global reputation does not match reality. For example, I met with major Spanish investors who considered investing in three sectors in Romania: infrastructure, energy and real estate. They were surprised to learn that many other sectors offer strong growth potential in Romania today.
European Times: What is your message to potential investors?
Manuel Costescu: Priority sectors in Romania today are ICT, the automotive sector, aerospace, the biotech sector, agriculture and creative activities, although of course we support investment in other sectors as well. The ICT industry is a big contributor to Romania’s GDP and has attracted major investment from global players like IBM and Oracle. Now we are seeing Romania’s ICT expertise being employed in many other sectors. I urge foreign investors to travel through this beautiful country, discuss possible projects with Romanians, and meet foreign investors who are already here and who are very happy that they chose Romania as an investment target.
