French investors remain en garde for local business opportunities

No major French investor has left Romania in the past couple of years and there have even been newcomers like Axa Insurance and Leroy Merlin. This shows that firms from the Hexagon have built solid businesses here and are realistic about the potential of the Romanian economy, argued company representatives attending the third annual French Business Forum, organized by BR last week.

Simona Bazavan

Railway and road infrastructure, the automotive industry, energy and retail are but a few of the fields catching the eye of French companies prospecting the Romanian market, disclosed company representatives present at last week’s BR event.

But even more important than stated intentions remains the fact that despite the difficulties faced by the local market in the past couple of years, French companies haven’t relocated their operations outside Romania and many have continued investing, said participants.

Quoting a recent barometer of the economic and business environment in Romania put together by the French Romanian Chamber of Commerce (CCIFER), Bruno Roche, the chamber’s president and general manager of Apa Nova, said that overall French investors are optimistic about the future of their business here, although the socio-political climate raises concerns.

Saulo Spaolanse, general manager of Schneider Electric Romania, added that his company sees growth opportunities and interesting long-term prospects locally. He told participants that demand for energy management services was on the rise as energy related expenses and consumption will grow further over the coming years and Romanian companies are looking into cutting costs and becoming more energy efficient. Benoit Valla, director of enterprise marketing at Vodafone Romania, was similarly optimistic, saying that he sees positive signs coming from his company’s contact with corporate customers.

Philippe Garcia, economic counselor and director of the Ubifrance economic mission to Bucharest, stressed that the main economic indicators for Romania are pointing to recovery and that the local macroeconomic situation is good, especially in comparison with neighboring countries.

France has a long tradition of investing in Romania, added Roche. Large investors like Dacia-Renault, Michelin, Orange, BRD-Groupe Societe Generale, Auchan, Carrefour, GDF Suez, Veolia and Lafarge all have operations locally, but in addition to these more visible players is a large number of small and medium-sized companies that are mainly involved in exports, said participants.

There are 3,461 companies with active status with more than a 10 percent French shareholding registered in Romania, said Karim Kheirat, country manager of ICAP Romania, and also the event’s moderator. Among them, 1,019 firms have no real activity.
In 2010, French companies active in Romania had a combined EUR 14.4 billion turnover, marking an annual increase of 6.9 percent, and employed over 118,000 workers, one percent up on the previous year.

Broadening the discussion to regional level, Edouard Millot, business development manager of Finexpert, commented that competition between Romania and other economies in the region like Poland and the Czech Republic will increasingly turn into a tax attractiveness contest. Especially in the current context,Romania will have to balance its desire to collect more funds for the state budget with the need to maintain and further create fiscal incentives for investors.

Sharing his professional experience in the region, Louis Coomans, managing director, client practice leader CEE&CIS with Marsh, said he finds it easier to start a service-related business in Romania than in Poland as Romanians are more open to change and innovation. He added that in the insurance and risk management domains there is room for growth in the years to come.

The third French Business Forum was organized last week at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Bucharest.
The event, which gathered around 70 representatives, was organized in partnership with the CCIFER and sponsored by Carrefour, Vodafone, Marsh and Schneider Electric Romania.

simona.bazavan@business-review.ro

Bruno Roche,president of CCIFER and general manager of Apa Nova: “We are in contact with companies that still see Romania as a land of perspectives”

Philippe Garcia, director of ME – Ubifrance: “This is a time when the crisis is probably behind us and we are looking to growth”

Louis Coomans, managing director, client practice leader CEE&CIS with Marsh: “The particularity of the Romanian market is its openness to innovation and change”

Saulo Spaolanse, general manager of Schneider Electric Romania: “We see good opportunities in Romania and interesting long-term perspectives”

Benoit Valla, director of enterprise marketing with Vodafone Romania: “Mobile lines penetration in Romania is similar to the European average both among the public and businesses”

Karim Kheirat, country manager of ICAP Romania: “Among the main competitive advantages in Romania are the employees’ language skills and IT specialists”

Edouard Millot, business development manager of Finexpert: “In Romania you only need 14 days to register a company compared to 29 days in Poland”

14.4 billion euros is the combined turnover reported by French companies active in Romania last year

DMCA

PROTECTED