Romania, Germany and Republic of Moldova, in an increasingly strong economic and political partnership

High-level business and political representatives from the three countries expressed interest in closer cooperation in areas such as energy, digitalisation, R&D and agriculture, which are considered priorities in the current geopolitical context.

More than 250 participants from Romania, Germany and the Republic of Moldova gathered during 28-29 September in Berlin, at the initiative of the German-Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK Romania) and the German Eastern Business Association, to take part in the German-Romanian Business Conference, as well as in the round tables and meetings organised on this occasion.

They represented both local and central public authorities of the three countries, but also the political and diplomatic areas, as well as and the business, in fields such as consulting, chemistry& pharma, transport-logistics, information technology, research and development, energy and gas, banking, urban regeneration, telecommunications, auditing, law, defence and security, automotive, retail, construction and other industries.

The Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Olaf Scholz and the Prime Minister of Romania, Marcel Ciolacu, delivered messages of support regarding the cooperation between the economies of the three countries.

„Our countries are in the process of becoming climate neutral while, at the same time, remaining thriving industrialised nations. We strongly support Romania’s accession to the Schengen area – that will boost cross-border trade relations further. We are committed to strong partnerships – and support the Republic of Moldova on its path to the EU. German investors – in particular, small and medium-sized companies – need a reliable and stable framework for this. That will make your country even more attractive as a location for business and facilitate the transfer of know-how,” said the German Chancellor, expressing his gratitude for having reliable partners as Romania and Moldova and his hope that the exchange between the three economies will continue to grow.

At his turn, the Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu emphasised that Germany is the Romania’s most important trading partner, adding that “the success of the German companies means more prosperity for Romania also”. He identified in previous discussions with the Chancellor Scholz further directions of developments such as: investments in industry, agriculture, innovation and digitalization, roads and rail infrastructure, participating in the reconstruction of Ukraine, supporting Republic of Moldova. The start of the gas exportation at the Black Sea was also mentioned as a turning point for business in the energy and chemical sectors.

“The German corporations are a serious investor; they have all my support. We need to interconnect the region on infrastructure, economic, common defence and digitalization. We encourage all interested business to explore the opportunities existing in Romania,” stressed Ciolacu.

In his speech addressed to the audience in Berlin, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Dorin Recean, reassured that Republic of Moldova is a safe place to live and to do business

“We are implementing the EU agenda, market rules and regulations. The government is very sensitive to the business work and ready to get all the existing potential,” he said.

Attracting and creating skilled workforce, building infrastructure projects that bridge Moldova with Ukraine and Romania, carrying out the transition to the green energy, developing information technology sector and last but not least its flourishing wine production represent some of the potential cooperation lines between the three countries which the PM Recean listed at the conference.

“The situation in both Romania and Moldova shows that there are opportunities in trade, in economic relations, in energy. Due to the new geopolitics we have to work closer than ever before, as globalization is under pressure, which means that open markets guaranteed access to cheap materials, cheap energy and possibility of selling goods everywhere is not given anymore. There are local interests, new conflicts are arising. If we collaborate, if we work together, we lower these tensions, we will strengthen our competitiveness. We can join our forces to create competences in the field of energy and raw materials and become independent,” said dr Robert Habeck, the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

He praised the latest economic developments of Romania and Moldova, adding that Germany is looking for common projects with countries in the Eastern Europe, in the field of energy and green hydrogen. As for Republic of Moldova, he has also had a message:

“It is a difficult situation in Moldova, having the war so close to its borders, so don’t get nervous if the investments don’t come in a minute. The companies are scanning the field, we will create a framework also for investments in Moldova”.

On foreign policy issues, dr. Anna Lührmann, German Minister of State for Europe and Climate at the Federal Foreign Office, expressed the full commitment of its institution regarding the extension of the Schengen area to Romania and Bulgaria. As for Moldova, she has also news:

“EU needs to get ready for new enlargement and I am convinced that Moldova will be a member of the EU soon. Many people think that countries having a border with Ukraine, which is in war, are countries that are facing destabilization attempts by Russia, but actually when I look at Moldova I see a clear member of the European family, a country that share our values of democracies and the rule of law, that stands in full solidarity with Ukraine, in other words, that it is a close friend of Germany”.

Another keynote speaker at the conference, Dumitru Alaiba, deputy Prime Minister of Republic of Moldova and Minister for the Economic Development and Digitalization, said on this occasion that his country proved how rapidly it can change and adapt:

“Over 30 years we depended 100% on Russian energy and in one year we changed this model and succeeded to buy gas from other sources than Gazprom. We interconnect with the neighbouring Romania and we work fast on the electricity grid. 70% of the Moldovan trade is now with the EU, USA and Canada. In spite of some uncertainties in the region, we are simply and truly interested in doing business and need to attract investment from the friends of Moldova,” he outlined.

Keeping the same path, the Romanian Minister for Energy, dr. Sebastian-Ioan Burduja, told participants that “Romania is open for business” in the energy sector. He talked about the Romania’s energy mix, based on gas, renewables, nuclear and some coal and invited the business community to think and make long term solutions, especially with regards to energy storage. The reasons why Romania chose alternative sources to renewables are related to the energy security:

“Can we use only green energy? I believe not, because, as energy experts told me, it is not easy to maintain the frequency of the grid. And if you only invest in wind and solar, then you put the grid on great risk and you’ll go to blackout. Yes, green energy, but not at the cost of the security of the energy,” he stressed.

Romanian Minister for the Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Ștefan-Radu Oprea, praised the business sector for changing the Romanian economy, by bringing locally the technology, know-how and labor skills. He also emphasized the positive effects that NATO and EU membership had on Romania’s development. Answering to the business’ concern regarding the infrastructure, he promised to shorten the time for transportation and to cut the red tape. In an effort to address the common concern regarding the lack of the skilled workforce, Oprea invited the private sector to join the state’s attempt to retain the qualified work force in Romania.

The president of AHK Romania, Andreas Lier, who opened the conference, said that Romania has developed from a prolonged workbench into a strong innovation and technology hub and will play an important role in the green transformation and the EU competitiveness.

“Despite all challenges, the perspectives for German-Romanian economic relations continue to be excellent and I believe that Romania will continue to attract many new investments – new topics such as energy are coming more in focus”. The German-Romania business motto, “Strengthening Partnerships – Turn challenges into opportunities” includes now Moldova,” he added.

About opportunities in the geopolitical context also spoke dr. Volker Treier, member of the Executive Board of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“It brings Romania and Moldova even more on the spots for the German business. It is about diversification and how to bring German companies even more to the reliable markets, where we can sell our products, or we can source our products, where we can build up value chains in a sustainable way, with sustainable energy but also with critical minerals,” he explained.

Romania is already by far Germany’s most important trading partner in Southeast Europe. Moldova, an EU candidate since last year cannot, afford to wait too long outside the EU, stated Philipp Haussmann, member of the board of the German-Eastern Business Association, co-organizer of the conference.

“Romania has turned into a true innovation partner, especially in the areas of research and development, digitalisation and green transformation. As in Germany, the restructuring of the energy system is at the top of the agenda” he added.

In addition, the event focused on four key topics which were thoroughly discussed by representatives of the business and politics during the round tables: nearshoring and R&D, digitalization, energy and farm to fork.

The participating companies at the “Nearshoring and R&D “panel stressed it was a good decision to invest in Romania, as they found an industrial culture on site. Proximity, hardworking people and a cultural fit to Germany are other drivers for the nearshoring. Heavy bureaucracy, weak transport infrastructure, lack of the new technology and sometimes of skilled workers were some of the negative issues that were discussed with the political representatives.

From the panel on “Digitalization” it emerged that Romania has good internet connection but low connected institutions to the newest technologies. However, the pandemic lead to a better understanding among the politicians of the importance of the digitalization. In a very bureaucratic administration, it represents a critical infrastructure. The first step in this endeavour would be the training of the employees. In a nutshell, digitalization of the population has to start very early, with the support of the authorities.

Romania, Moldova and Germany will further cooperate to ensure affordable energy for their residential, public and private consumers. Replacing old technologies with new ones in order to get the energy efficiency, using the whole available portfolio of the energy mix, empowering the renewables were some of the proposals made by the companies at the third panel of the conference, focused on “Energy”. The companies expressed an interest to continue investments in distribution network and asked for the support of the administration. A joint public-private initiative would move the things forward.

The “Farm to fork” panel has revealed many of the problems the Romanian agriculture is facing. In spite of being a traditional agricultural land, Romania relies a lot on food imports. On the other hand, the arable land is shrinking year by year and the young people do no longer want to work in agriculture. Therefore, the biggest challenge is now attracting young generation towards this business. Another topic of discussion related to the transformation of Romania into a new agricultural hub for Europe. Investments in the technology, reducing the food waste as well as producing locally were some of the solutions offered by the business to the politicians.

The Business German-Romanian conference is in its second edition, after the hybrid one in 2021, which enjoyed great success. The event provides a platform for dialogue between participants, with the aim of strengthening trilateral relations, creating new business opportunities and increasing the presence of German companies in Romania and the Republic of Moldova.

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