Romanian Ministry for Information Society: The EU 2020 Strategy will add 13 percent to Romania's GDP

The impact of the EU 2020 Digital Strategy on Romanian economy will be positive, with the growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) being estimated at 13 percent, while the number of jobs will go up by 11 percent, according to Diana Voicu, state secretary in the Ministry for Information Society, quoted by Agerpres newswire.

“We hope the National Strategy Digital Agenda 2020 for Romania will be a tool for watching the evolution of the IT&C sector in Romania, which should favor innovation and economic growth and offer Europeans all the perks of digital society. The impact of the Strategy Digital Agenda 2020 for Romania in the GDP growth will be 13 percent, while the number of jobs will soar by 11 percent. Expenses of the administration will also drop by 12 percent. These are indicators calculated realistically, starting from the examples from other states where important policies have already been implemented,” said Voicu.

In 2012, in Romania there were 15,726 IT&C companies.

“Of these, 82.2 percent used the PC, and 73.4 percent had internet connection. Regular internet use hiked by 45 percent while the number of people who never used the internet declined to 42 percent. Coverage of fixed broadband in the rural areas spiked by 78 percent while mobile broadband coverage expanded by 41 percent. In e-commerce, the estimated impact in the GDP during 2014- 2020 will be 3 percent growth and 2 percent surge in the number of jobs,” said Voicu.

At the end of May, Razvan Cotovelea, minister for Information Society, said that during the EU 2014-2020 financial framework, Romania is counting on at least EUR 500 million in financial support.

“This important sector will obviously be financed from European structural funds. We are counting on an allocation of at least EUR 500 million from the European Union, to which will be added our national contribution, and we will be making very many interventions to stimulate the infrastructure. We will proceed with the introduction of broadband internet in the “white areas.” We will continue with the Ro-Net project which totals EUR 84 million, which stipulates the introduction of broadband in these areas. We will encourage the investments of SMEs by granting subventions and European funds. What matters the most is your contribution to the single project we are working on and are counting on, e-Romania,” said Cotovelea at that time.

Otilia Haraga