“Skill availability is the biggest problem across the EU – a recent survey has found that it’s biggest obstacle for 80 percent of companies in the EU, acting like a barrier to investment – among Romanian respondents, 73 percent said workforce was the biggest issue, but it ranked below the uncertainty indicator in this country.
This happens for several reasons, including rapid changes in technology and negative demographic trends. In response, countries must develop their education systems, promote lifetime learning and make serious investments in training.”
“The peak period for Romania was 2006-2008, driven by the big privatisations such as BCR, but it was a very different environment compared to what we’re seeing today. The investment flow stagnated during the financial crisis, and now we can see that the structure of FDI is changing in terms of the share of capital inflow and reinvested profits from existing investors.
Today Romania has an FDI rate of 2-3 percent of GDP, with about EUR 5 billion, but the GDP has been increasing faster than the FDI rate in the past few years. 75 percent of Romania’s export comes from FDI-related companies.
Romania has an urgent need for investment. Growth and development cannot be achieved without investment.”
Rozalia Pal also noted that 60 percent of FDI goes to the Bucharest-Ilfov area, which creates a major gap between the capital and other areas of the country. She added that the companies which have driven FDI have also brought a lot of know-how to Romania, but that at this time the country is ready to begin relying on local innovation.
“In the past few years, there has been a lack of financing for emerging market, but now this trend is reversing at the global level, which means that liquidity may begin to flow back to emerging markets.”