Recently, the Board of Directors of the Foreign Investors Council (FIC) elected, for a one-year mandate, its new President, Franz Weiler. Franz is the CEO of Uniqa Asigurări and, during his past mandate in the Board, he co-chaired FIC’s task force on Financial Services.
Franz is replacing the outgoing FIC President, Eric Stab, Chairman and CEO of ENGIE Romania, who served for two mandates, between 2015 and 2017, and who will continue on the FIC Board as Vice-President. Mihai Bogza will also continue as vice-president and Farrukh Khan as treasurer.
Eric Stab
2017 is an important year for FIC, as the organization marks 20 years of activity in Romania. This anniversary is strong evidence of the commitment of foreign investors towards this country. FIC has been a solid partner for dialogue for the Romanian authorities in the past two decades. During my latest mandate, we have focused on two important projects. One of them is Va Urma (www.vaurma.ro), through which the FIC community came to the conclusion that Romania can become one of the 10 largest economies in the EU by 2036 if it makes serious investments in infrastructure, human capital and public and private efficiency. The other one is the recently published report on the impact of foreign direct investments in Romania. We believe that FDI had a substantial contribution to Romania’s development and will continue to be a vital source of sustainable economic growth in the years to come. We have set out to talk openly and publicly about FDI in Romania, based on solid data and research. It was a privilege and a pleasure for me to serve as FIC President for two mandates but none of our achievements would have been possible without the full support of all the other FIC Board members. I would like to thank them all and, at the same time, wish Franz all the best in this new position.
Franz Weiler
It is an honor for me to have received the trust of the other Board members and I use this opportunity to thank them. I also want to congratulate Eric Stab and the previous executive team for the outstanding work they have done. FIC will continue to work on Va Urma and on further researching the impact of FDI in Romania. We are also gearing up to start a dialogue with the public and with policy makers on the 11th edition of the FIC White Book, which was prepared with the support of more than 120 specialists from FIC members. The White Book is a comprehensive document that we publish every two years, outlining the recommendations of all FIC members in key areas of the Romanian economy which we believe will promote long-run and sustainable economic growth. This is a testimony of the commitment foreign investors have to Romania. FIC members have invested here for the long term and this is why they are interested in the sustainable development of Romania and the well-being of its citizens.