#FIS2021 goes online | The last day of registrations for the 8th annual edition of the Foreign Investors Summit

Two days filled with thought-provoking discussions are set in place for Business Review’s 8^th annual edition of the Foreign Investors Summit. Over 20 top speakers will take the stage during the event’s 4 panels, one keynote speech, and European Investment Bank exclusive presentation. Due to the latest restrictions announced on Monday by the Romanian authorities, Business Review is forced to cancel the on-site event at the Marmorosch Bucharest Hotel, Autograph Collection, this year’s edition becoming an online-only event, streamed live via BR’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, on October 27-28.

The summit will explore the 4 key elements on which Romania’s competitiveness as an FDI destination will be decided: the ability to bounce back from the pandemic, tech & digitalization, Romania’s workforce, and creating a sustainable economy, each with its own two-hour panel.

“The pandemic has wiped out most of the economic growth of economies all around the globe in 2020. Although Romania was also hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, the local economy performed better than its European peers last year and is expected to also outperform them in 2021 with an over 7% estimated growth. Naturally, FDI levels, which already stalled for years, were at a record low, but as the new normality took over we can see a steep growth of FDIs in the first five months of 2021, up to 320%.” Says Catalin Alistari, General Manager at Business Review.

Read more about
Analysis Gebrüder Weiss Romania: Transport and logistics market in 2024 – from challenges to opportunities
read more

The event will open on October 27, 11:00 AM, with a Keynote Speech from Bogdan Ion, EY Romania & Moldova Country Managing Partner and EY CESA Chief Operating Officer.

“FDI will be at the foundation of economic recovery over the coming years. The 2020 edition of the EY Attractiveness Survey shows that foreign investors think Romania should focus on developing education and skills, supporting high-tech and innovative sectors and encouraging investments in major infrastructure and urban projects. 35 percent of surveyed investors were looking to invest in supply chain and logistics projects, while 34 percent were interested in projects in the manufacturing sector.” Bogdan Ion told Business Review in an exclusive interview.

The two panels of day 1 (October 27) are dedicated to Romania’s economic recovery (starting at 11:20 AM) and tech & digitalization (starting at 2:20 PM), and will feature important speakers such as Lara Tassan Zanin, Head of European Investment Bank in Romania, Ileana Gutu, Associate Partner – Valuation, Financial Modeling and Economics at EY Romania, Cristian Secosan, President Foreign Investment Council, Jorg Menzer, Partner and Head of CEE Offices at Noerr, Octavian Oprea, President of the Authority For The Digitization Of Romania, Antoniu Panait, Managing Director at Vastint Romania, Laura Stefan, Director Business Development at Mastercard Romania, and Lucian Enaru, Country General Manager at Schneider Electric. Also during Day 1 of the Summit, Patricia Wruuck, Economist in the Economics Department of the European Investment Bank, will hold a presentation titled “Municipal investment and cohesion in Europe: current challenges,” starting at 2 PM.

“The automotive sector is now one of the strongest in Romania, and the areas that support it are attracting high levels of FDI in the post-covid economy. We can already begin to analyse some good news that came during the first half of 2021 in terms of new investments.” Writes Claudiu Vrinceanu, the moderator of the Tech & Digitalization panel.

The second day of the Summit will open at 10 AM with the panel dedicated to Romania’s Labor Market, titled “Behind the myth of young, bright, qualified Romanian workforce,” followed by the Sustainable Economy panel at 12:15 PM. Among the speakers of day 2 are Oswald Kolb, General Manager Continental Sibiu, Jan Demeyere, Architect and Co-Founder – Partner at Speedwell, Anna Cohen, Head of Marketing at Hagag Development Europe, Alex Skouras, Managing Partner at Alesonor, Okan Yurtsever, General Director at Garanti BBVA Leasing, Tivadar Runtag, CEO at Chimcomplex, H.E. Laurence Auer, French Ambassador to Romania, H.E. Laurence Auer, French Ambassador to Romania, and Iulian Sorescu, Partner, Investments & State Aid Expert at Noerr.

“The fiscal and monetary measures adopted by the Romanian authorities to help businesses cope with pandemic effects certainly helped the recovery and it seems that the local economy still offers opportunities for foreign investors. There are plenty of signs that make Romania a destination for FDIs – consumption is on the rise, the real estate sector yields are still good, the local share trading market is growing. At the same time, we cannot overlook warning signs like depletion of qualified workforce, rising prices of energy, the public debate on suspending fiscal facilities for key industries, or even the everlasting political crisis.” Explains Catalin Alistari.

To join #FIS2021, you can sign up for free for the online event, HERE.

Find out more about the event:

Stay up to date by joining the dedicated events on Facebook and LinkedIn, and also make sure to subscribe to the Business Review YouTube channel!

The Foreign Investors Summit 2021 is an event organized by Business Review Magazine, with the participation of the European Investment Bank and partners EY Romania, Evergent Investments, Hagag Development Europe, IMMOFINANZ, Mastercard, Garanti BBVA Leasing, Noerr, Schneider Electric, Alesonor, Bosch, Speedwell.

DMCA

PROTECTED