Infrastructure set to drive future Romanian economic growth

Bruno Roche, general director of Apa Nova Bucuresti and president of the French Romanian Chamber of Commerce (CCIFER), speaks about the Romanian business environment and the infrastructure project as a driver of future economic growth, and shares his top tips for potential investors.

Anca Ionita

What advice would you give to a foreign investor considering investing in Romania now, in your dual capacity of general director of Apa Nova Bucuresti and the president of CCIFER?

My first piece of advice would be to prepare very well before coming here, following the decision to invest in a certain industry, in order to understand whether it’s really possible or not. The Chamber of Commerce can help the investor in preparing the project, by providing the macroeconomic toolkits, updated reviews of the legislation, etc. Once the decision to invest in Romania is taken, the CCIFER can assist in opening a business here.

And what kind of warnings?

Although Romania is in the European Union, one should still pay attention to the corruption issue, which, I hope, will decrease over time.

The CCIFER has recently issued a barometer of the economic and business environment in Romania. What do the indicators say about these two issues?

We devised a questionnaire for the CCIFER members asking them to rate business in Romania. There are two sets of questions, with ratings from 1 to 5 (1 being the worst and 5 the best): one on the political and social environment, and the other focusing mainly on business issues.

The mark for the socio-political context is 2.5, meaning that French investors are not very happy with the current state of affairs. But, when they speak about their own business, the indicator is around 3.5, which means that they are happy about how their business is doing right now and, at the same time, optimistic about the future of their business here. If you take the integrated view given by both indicators, it means political issues do not have a crucial influence on the business environment. I think the fact that none of the big companies that are members of the CCIFER have left Romania since the beginning of the crisis is a sign of confidence in this market and its future.

All foreign investors complain about the poor development of the country’s infrastructure. How critical is this issue for the further growth of the economy?

It is a crucial issue! A country is like a human body – there is the heart and the artery and vein circulatory system. You can have a good heart, but if you don’t have the arteries to pump the blood out, the body won’t function well. This sums up local infrastructure: few high-speed routes and a national road system in poor condition.

If you want to expand a business in several parts of Romania, one of the big problems is the undeveloped infrastructure. Romania is one of the large markets of South Eastern Europe and a market like that cannot stay at this level. Think about the possibility of a neighbor like Serbia developing its infrastructure in the near future, providing an alternative route for transport that bypasses Romania. I’m not an economist, but it is a question of common sense: if you have big infrastructure projects funded by the EU, this means growth for the economy and attracting more foreign investors. It seems there is no clear view of the future for Romania.

Do you think that there are no strategies for the economy in place?

There are, but they are not being implemented. The construction of the promised high-speed roads has not started yet! I think the only way to speed up

the process is through a PPP (Public Private Partnership); this is the best way of implementing the infrastructure projects, a format that worked for France. You have money but you don’t have projects!

Is it difficult to get access to the government, to the authorities, if you want to propose changes to laws that will help the economic and business environment?

Not at all. This is what we did with the White Chart for Energy that was issued by the CCIFER, French Embassy in Romania and the Romanian department of the French Foreign Trade Council, which contains pragmatic proposals concerning energy efficiency, the regulatory body (there are two, right now), etc. We submitted it to the Ministry of Economy and Industry and we are waiting for a response.

What about the Glina waste water treatment plant?

Building of the plant started during Ceausescu’s time, but it was not put into operation. The Municipality of Bucharest decided to do an ISPA project. They finished the works in July, and we are the first company to operate the plant. We are talking about 10 cubic meters per second. Before that, all the waste water would go directly into the Dambovita River.

What development plans do you have for Apa Nova?

Around Bucharest, we have the management contract for the water system in Otopeni (including the airport), and of the Portland Industrial Platform located outside Bucharest, near the highway to Pitesti. We are currently working on expanding to other cities in Romania.

anca.ionita@business-review.ro

DMCA

PROTECTED