Business Review

A tax increase in itself is not necessarily a deal breaker for foreign companies considering the Romanian market, but the lack of predictability and transparency weighs heavily when taking up the option to start a business here.

Simona Bazavan

According to National Bank of Romania (BNR) data Dutch and Austrian companies have disputed the top position among foreign investors to Romania for the past decade. Many of the Dutch investors active in Romania are Dutch-capitalized companies, others are foreign companies registered in the Netherlands due to a friendlier fiscal regime than in other European countries.

Simona Bazavan

Pioneering Dutch investors came to Romania as early as the beginning of the nineties and are now present in all the main local industries. As for future trends, Dutch companies are still finding business opportunities in industry, logistics, infrastructure and energy and taking a particular interest in the local healthcare sector, says Hans Smaling, counselor for economy and trade and chief of department with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Bucharest.

Simona Bazavan

Dutch investors were among the first companies to come to Romania after the fall of the communist regime. Since then they have extended their presence to almost all local industries, keeping the Netherlands in one of the leading positions in the ranking of foreign investors to the country in the past decade.

Simona Bazavan

Despite the stalling local car market, Dacia keeps accelerating its sales, with the main engine for growth being the Duster and the increased demand from European markets the new model is enjoying.

Dana Ciuraru

With about 8 billion tons of proven recoverable oil reserves, Kazakh companies are interested in identifying business opportunities to get the black gold to the Western Europe countries.

Dana Ciuraru

Ever since 2005, Germany has kept a respectable third position in the league of foreign investors in Romania, with its share in the country’s total FDI (foreign direct investments) constantly increasing on a yearly basis, according to data from the National Bank of Romania.

Simona Bazavan

The economic crisis took its toll on foreign direct investments to Romania last year but German investors have defied the trend. Germany was the third biggest foreign investor to Romania in 2009, with investments amounting to EUR 2.86 billion, compared to EUR 2.3 billion at the end of 2008, Julia Kohlheim, head of the economic section at the German Embassy to Bucharest, told Business Review.

Simona Bazavan

The hard economic times have made some businesspeople think twice and reconsider their future strategies, but German investors are hanging tough and continuing to invest. With a strong presence in retail, production and energy, German investors believe in the potential of the local market and are hoping for better times.

Simona Bazavan

Company representatives attending the British Business Forum organized by Business Review argued that what was before the crisis was not normal, but rather what comes after.

Simona Bazavan