Market Briefing : Romania

ECONOMIC SITUATION

Romania is the largest of all Southeast European countries and the 12th largest in Europe. It borders Hungary and Serbia to the west, Bulgaria to the south, and Ukraine to the north. The economy of Romania has grown rapidly since 2006; the amount of foreign trade, investment and foreign exchange reserves has gradually increased. Romania became a member state of the European Union on 1 January 2007. Since then, the international investment credit of the country has shown a sustainable rise. At present, it has trade business relationships with approximately 150 countries and regions.

A shipyard in Romania	SIAB 2007 (Salonul International de Automobile Bucuresti) in Bucharest	A general view of capital Bucharest

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Car Industry
The American Ford Motor Company formally took over the Romania Automobile Craiova plant from the Romania government on 21 March 2008. It is the second foreign investor to set up car manufacturing centre in Romania, the first being Renault from France. The country’s lower salaries compared to western European countries have aroused foreign investors’ interest in developing their businesses. It is expected that the national car production will reach 650 thousand units per year in 2010.

Construction Industry
The European Statistics Institute showed that in 2007 the value of building work in Romania had seen the fastest growth rate in the whole of Europe. According to the Romanian Building Contractors’ Association, the value of building work stood at 105 billion Euro in 2007, 55% more than in 2006. The cause of the rapid increase in building is that more international enterprises initiate large-scale construction, including real state, offices, large-sized supermarkets and industrial estates. In addition, the government announced that considerable funds would be injected into the public works programme, territorial lay out as well as the rehabilitation and maintenance of buildings.

Environmental Protection Industry
With the support of the European Union, Romania is now actively progressing with its national environmental development, such as municipal sewage treatment plants, the quality of potable water, pollution prevention and control as well as waste storage. Until 2018, the cost of implementing the environmental programme and legislation will approach 293 billion Euro, which is considered a respectable business opportunity for those enterprises with expertise in this area. To harmonise with the environmental programme, the environmental protection industry will maintain a sustainable development and become one of the important industries in Romania.

MAJOR WEBSITE RECOMMENDATION:

• ROMANIA AGENCY FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENT
  http://www.arisinvest.ro/
  The agency provides consultative services to foreign investors and assists them in searching for a potential partner in Romania. You can find comprehensive information on country profile, business opportunities and related investment legislation on their website.
• NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS, ROMANIA
  http://www.insse.ro/cms/rw/pages/index.en.do
  As the official statistical agency of the government, National Institute of Statistics of Romania is in charge of the production and provision of quality statistical products.
• ROMANIA TRADE PROMOTION CENTER
  http://www.traderom.ro/english/
  RTPC is a national trade promotion organisation and its mission is to promote export and import activities of Romanian enterprises through their global trade point network. You can find sufficient information on Romanian business environment on their website.

Source: CIA-The World Fact Book – Romania https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ro.html

Source: National Institute of Statistics, Romania http://www.insse.ro/cms/rw/pages/index.en.do Main Exports – commodities: machinery and equipment, textiles and footwear, metals and metal products, minerals and fuels, chemicals, agricultural products
Main Imports – commodities: machinery and equipment, minerals and fuels, chemicals, textile and products, metals, agricultural products

Source: CIA-The World Fact Book – Romania https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ro.html

Source: National Institute of Statistics, Romania http://www.insse.ro/cms/rw/pages/index.en.do
World Trade Point Federation http://www.tradepoint.org/index.php?id=537&L=

Source: The Statistics and Census Service http://www.dsec.gov.mo/ Note 1 : Exports = Domestic Exports + Re-exports
Note 2 : From May 2000, data on Transit is only available up to the 4th digit of NCEM/HS

SOURCE:

• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China
  http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/chn/default.htm
• The Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China
  http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/
• The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Romania
  http://www.chinaembassy.org.ro/chn/
• The Economic and Commercial Counsellor’s office of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Romania
  http://ro.mofcom.gov.cn/index.shtml
• Macao Statistics and Census Service
  http://www.dsec.gov.mo/c_index.html
• The World Factbook
  http://www.cia.gov
• World Trade Point Federation
  http://www.tradepoint.org/index.php?id=537&l=
• National Institute of Statistics, Romania
  http://www.insse.ro/cms/rw/pages/index.en.do
• Radio Romania International
  http://www.rri.ro