German business under the looking glass

Dr. Sonja Kreibich (head of the economic section at the German Embassy), Mihai Rohan (general manager of Carpatcement), Radu Merica (president of AHK Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce), Marten Schoenrock (general manager of the Intercontinental Hotel) and Cristian Secosan (CEO of Siemens) were the panelists invited to talk about the current state of German investments in Romania. Construction and construction materials are among the industries worst hit by the crisis. On this theme, Mihai Rohan of Carpatcement Holding said that the only way to move the local economy forward is to focus on infrastructure investments. The current crisis has not bypassed the hospitality industry either, with average occupancy on the Bucharest five-star hotel segment decreasing gradually over the past three years. According to Schoenrock of the Intercontinental Hotel, occupancy has slumped from 70 percent in 2006-2007 to 62 percent in 2008, and he expects it will fall to 58 percent in 2009. The German Business Forum is part of the Country Focus Series of events organized by Business Review.