Leading industries
Manufacturing and engineering
are Romania’s backbone
industries. The country also
possesses substantial energy
resources and agricultural land.
Most sectors of the economy
remain under-exploited and
offer great potential, particularly
manufacturing, agriculture and
tourism. The technology sector
continues to play an increasingly
important role in the economy
due to the high level of skill
among its workers and rather
low wage costs. The real estate
sector also offers significant
growth opportunities.
Sectors that attracted foreign
investment in recent years
include oil and natural gas,
automotives, metallurgy,
banking and finance, food
processing, heavy engineering,
telecommunications, construction
and consumer goods
manufacturing. Investors have
expressed interest in newlyprivatised
industries as well as in
greenfield projects.
Government-owned
industries and privatisation
Romania’s government has reaffirmed its commitment to
privatise the remaining stateowned
companies, particularly
those in energy, heavy industry, pharmaceuticals and utilities.
The relevant privatisation
strategies are formulated,
approved and executed every
year by the concerned ministries
in collaboration with the state
privatisation authority, the
Authority for the Disposal of
State Assets (AVAS). Most of the
companies up for privatisation
are listed on the two major
capital markets – Bucharest
Stock Exchange and RASDAQ.
Privatisation is often carried
out on these markets through
electronic auction, public equity
offer and/or firm commitment
underwriting. Moreover, in the
case of big state-run companies
undergoing privatisation, direct
negotiations are a common
practice.
Foreign direct investments
increased by 75% last year to
EUR 9.1 billion, including
EUR 2.2 billion from the
privatisation of the Romanian
Commercial Bank (BCR),
according to the National Bank
of Romania. In 2005 Romania
attracted EUR 5.2 billion in FDI.
For 2007, FDI is projected to be
around EUR 6.5 to 7 billion.
Last year, foreign investors
showed a special appetite for the
automotives sector, electronics
and household appliances, construction, pharmaceuticals
and bio-diesel production.
Automotives was appealing to
investors because of its long
tradition in Romania. Production
of consumer electronics and
household appliances benefits
from the ample availability
of skilled workforce. The
construction sector flourished
due to the continuing boom in the
real estate market and bio-diesel
production benefited from large
areas put to fuel-yielding crops.
The Information Technology
and Communications (IT&C)
sector has also attracted foreign
investment due to the availability
of highly qualified IT specialists.
AVAS has announced that it
would put up 62 companies for
privatisation in 2007, hoping
to collect RON 1 billion this
year, 60% of it coming from
privatisations. The procedure
to release shares are already
under way in the case of nine
of these 62 companies, while
share packages of another
26 companies should be
put up for sale by the end of
the third quarter. Moreover,
AVAS is expecting to put up
for privatisation another 27
companies which were taken over
from the National Office of State
Shareholding and Privatisation in
Industry (OPSPI) portfolio. The
most important companies from the OPSPI portfolio are the power
plants in Turceni, Rovinari and
Craiova and power distributors
Electrica Muntenia Nord,
Electrica Muntenia Sud, Electrica
Transilvania Nord and Electrica
Transilvania Sud.
Regional and international
trade agreements and
associations
Romania has been a signatory to
the General Agreement for Tariffs
and Trade, the World Trade
Organisation, the European Free
Trade Agreement and the Central
European Free Trade Agreement. Besides, Romania has entered
into over 80 agreements for the avoidance of double taxation and
the prevention of tax evasion
on income and capital (see in
the Appendix). Romania is also
a member of the International
Monetary Fund, the World Bank
(i.e. the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development
and the International Finance
Corporation), and the European
Bank for Reconstruction and
Development.
As a EU member state, Romania
adheres to the bloc’s Common
Commercial Policy and accepts
the European Commission as a
collective negotiating body for
important international traderelated
matters, particularly
negotiations within the WTO. It
also conforms to the anti-dumping
and anti-subsidy measures
adopted by the Community, and
does not adopt any trade defence
measures or instruments against
other EU member states.
Major Trading Partners
and Leading Imports and
Exports
Imports and Exports
The following table contains
comparative figures of the import/export flows of Romania for 2004,
2005 and 2006.
In 2006, the main export countries were Italy (17.9%), Germany (15.7%), Turkey (7.7%), France (7.5%) and Hungary (4.9%), while
the imports were from Germany (15.2%), Italy (14.6%), the Russian
Federation (7.9%), France (6.5%) and Turkey (5%). |
