Romania’s economy could grow almost 4.5 times within the next 40
years. According to "Va urma" project launched by
the Foreign Investors Council (FIC), Romania’s GDP could reach nearly
RON 4,400 billion in 2040, in less than 18 years’ time, about 3.2 times
higher than the current level. The GDP forecast by the government for
2022 stands at RON 1,370 billion.
FIC launched the 2022 edition of Va Urma (https://vaurma.ro) with the
participation of the Prime Minister of Romania, Mr. Nicolae Ciuca,
together with members of the Government and Parliament, international
institutions, and economic leaders. The "Va Urma" project represents an
economic development model with a vision for the next 20 years, updated
to take account of the latest events at global level. The event was a
first step in setting country directions agreed and supported by the
authorities, representative international institutions, and the
business environment. The participants agreed on ten long-term measures
and several quick wins for boosting the future economy based on
investments, energy mix, digitalization, human capital and institional
capacity.
Foreign direct investments grew by 43.7% in the first seven months of
2022, to EUR 5.5 billion, compared to EUR 3.83 billion in the same
period of 2021. Romania thus remains an important destination for
foreign investors, in a global context marked by strong uncertainties
and volatility, according to Finance Minister Adrian Câciu. According
to him, the recently adopted EUR 4 billion private investment support
measures, together with the other support schemes included in the
"Support for Romania" package and the individual state aid schemes the
government is currently working on, reflect the continuous efforts to
meet the needs of the business sector and help it overcome this
complicated period.
Romania’s total external debt - public and private – grew by EUR 5.81
billion during the period January-July 2022, to EUR 140.4 billion, of
which general government debt amounted to EUR 57.1 billion, down by EUR
1.6 billion against the level recorded on 31 December 2021, according
to data published by the National Bank of Romania (NBR) on Tuesday, 13
September. Of the total volume, external debt was EUR 97.5 billion and
intercompany lending represented EUR 42.8 billion.
The latest study conducted by Coface Romania shows that 3,510 new
insolvency proceedings were opened in the first half of 2022, up by 16%
against H1/2021 and 6% above the level recorded prior to the Covid-19
pandemic. Financial losses caused by insolvent companies in H1/2022
amounted to RON 2.7 billion, up by 36% year-on-year and almost similar
to the losses generated by insolvent companies in 2020.
Trade, manufacturing and services are the sectors to have benefited
from the biggest volume of financing in Banca Transilvania’s corporate
loans portfolio. The cumulative balance of loans granted to the three
areas stood at RON 13 billion at the end of H1 of 2022, up by 12%
against the level recorded at the end of 2021. The volume of the
financing granted by Banca Transilvania for trade, manufacturing and
services represents about 20% (one-fifth) of the bank’s total net loans
balance.
On 7-26 November, Raiffeisen Bank is to carry out a new edition of the
Startup Studio by Factory program, through which entrepreneurs who have
recently entered the world of business learn how to launch new products
or services and adapt to market requirements. Those interested can sign
up for the free entrepreneurial education module during the period 13
September - 31 October. The program is carried out in partnership with
Impact Hub Bucharest.
BRD Asset Management, BRD - Groupe Societe Generale’s company which
specializes in investment management, has recently launched four new
investment funds, having thus expanded its investment product portfolio
by 50%. Two of the four products are Target Date Funds, a novelty on
the local market. The new funds are called BRD Orizont 2035, BRD
Orizont 2045, BRD Oportunităţi and BRD Euro Simplu and join the eight
other funds the company already manages.
The current account deficit grew to EUR 14.9 billion in the first seven
months of 2022, compared to EUR 9.1 billion in January-July 2021, as
international trade in goods reached a nearly EUR 18 billion deficit,
according to NBR data. The goods balance thus had a EUR 5.29 billion
higher deficit at the end of June than in the same period of 2021. In
contrast, the balance of services recorded a EUR 1.65 billion higher
surplus, of nearly EUR 6.7 billion, after the transports sector
reported a EUR 3 billion surplus, and the telecommunications, computer
and information services registered a EUR 2.9 billion surplus. However,
tourism still generated a EUR 1.5 billion deficit, EUR 500 million
above the level reported for July 2021.
Superball SRL is to invest nearly EUR 3 million in the modernization of
its production lines by launching the project "Greening SUPERBALL
production line through innovative textile products, automation and by
improving circular economy processes". The mission of Superball SRL, a
member company of GREEN FUTURE GROUP, owner of brands such as Mezoni,
Green Future, Bedora, Essience, Bebeluca and others, has always been to
create a unique shopping experience for its customers and to
manufacture products that bring them closer to the lifestyle they want.
Prime Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă received, at Victoria Palace,
Lockheed Martin’s delegation, led by the Vice President for
International Affairs, Ray Piselli. The launch of the US company’s
investment in Romania in the field of research and development in
artificial intelligence was announced during the dialog, which focused
on the development of bilateral cooperation. The results of the
research to be carried out within the collaboration between Lockheed
Martin’s Science, Technology and Engineering Research and Leadership
Laboratory and the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca will be applied
in the fields of national security and environmental sciences.
Swedish group Ericsson, one of the world’s largest global suppliers of
equipment and services for communications operators, plans to build a
factory in Romania where 5G devices will be manufactured, the size of
the two antenna factories bought from Kathrein. This will be the first
production unit developed by the Swedes from scratch on the local
market. Ericsson is now looking for build-to-suit solutions on the real
estate market for an approximately 30,000 square metre space necessary
for a new factory to manufacture radiant systems based on 5G
technology.
Galaţi City Hall will build an underground car park with a capacity of
over 160 spaces at one of the most important medical units in the city.
Authorities have recently announced that the public procurement
contract for the "Modernization of the park and underground parking of
<<Sf. Ioan>> Children’s Hospital - design
and execution" has been put out to tender. The estimated value of the
investment is RON 29,285,011, VAT not included, and the deadline for
submitting bids is 11 October 2022.
MEP Siegfried Mureșan, from the National Liberal Party (PNL), has
announced that he has submitted, as co-rapporteur of the European
Parliament, the draft report on amending the European legislation on
the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The mechanism, worth EUR 700
billion, is the largest investment instrument ever adopted at European
level and was set up in 2021 to help EU overcome the crisis generated
by the COVID-19 pandemic and to strengthen European economies, the MEP
has indicated.
Family Minister Gabriela Firea has announced that she has finalized an
important project to support gender equality, ensuring seats for women
in state-owned companies’ Boards of Directors. Gabriela Firea has also
indicated, among other things, that three out of ten Romanians say that
women do not have leadership skills, but women will prove that they can
do more with the help of this project.
On Tuesday, 13 September, the Chamber of Deputies adopted the draft law
amending and completing Government Emergency Ordinance (OUG) 18/2009 on
increasing the energy performance of blocks of flats. The law will now
be sent to promulgation. The legislative interventions aim to update
the legislation on energy performance in relation to technical,
economic and environmental requirements aimed at increasing the
percentage of green buildings, considering that the European Union
plans to decarbonize buildings by 2050.
The European Commission approved a scheme to partially compensate
energy-intensive companies in the context of increased electricity
prices. The scheme has a total budget of EUR 1.5 billion to cover part
of the higher electricity prices arising from the impact of carbon
prices on electricity generation costs incurred between 2021 and 2030.
The support measure is aimed at reducing the risk of ‘"carbon leakage",
where companies relocate their production to countries outside the EU
with less ambitious climate policies, resulting in increased greenhouse
gas emissions globally, the Commission said.
The average number of pensioners in Romania was 5,003,000 in Q2 of
2022, down by 21,000 against the previous quarter. The average number
of pensioners registered in the public social security system was
4,604,000, down by 13,000 compared to Q1/2022. The average monthly
pension (calculated by taking into account the sums for the pensions of
all categories of pensioners - social security, disability, survivor,
etc. - paid by pension houses) was RON 1,851 in Q2/2022, up by 0.3%
quarter-on-quarter, according to data published by the National
Institute of Statistics (INS) on Tuesday, 13 September.
Four out of ten employees (40%) would look for another job if their
employer asked them to work mainly from the office, and they would not
want this, while 62% of employees want to work remotely to be
efficient, according to a survey conducted at the end of August by an
online platform dedicated to employees in Romania. Data compiled by
Undelucram.ro shows that around a third (33%) of the HR specialists
surveyed said that employees worked from the office two days a week in
the companies they represented.