Romania’s Business Community announces a coalition to deal with urgent economic issues
Bucharest, July 24th, 2012: The Romanian business community today announces the forming of a coalition for economic growth and stability. The initiative comes as a response to deterioration of the economic conditions due – to some extend- the the turbulence that has ensued from recent political developments.
The coalition brings together business organizations including the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), Foreign Investors Council (FIC), British-Romanian Chamber of Commerce, Romanian Business Leaders Foundation (RBLF), Netherlands-Romanian Chamber of Commerce, Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Industry Romania-Canada, Romania-Ireland Bilateral Chamber of Commerce, Romania-Finland Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Danish-Romania Business Association, and Romania-Cyprus Bilateral Chamber of Commerce. Participation in the partnership is open to other likeminded business groups. Collectively, the member companies of the founding organizations represent around 65% of overall investment in Romania, have created thousands of jobs for Romanian citizens and contributed significantly to the state budget.
We are witnessing an unprecedented depreciation of the national currency. We see investors, entrepreneurs and average Romanians losing trust in our economy. According to yearly international rankings (like Transparency International – Corruption Perception Index or Doing Business in Romania of The World Bank), we see Romania worsening in terms of attractiveness, transparency, corruption, competitiveness and education. We, as the private sector, are concerned about the future of our business and employees.
In this context, we urge the government to start a strategic dialogue with the private sector and other important stakeholders to improve the business environment and Romania’s international competitiveness. Today, we demand strong and decisive action to rebuild trust and confidence in the Romanian economy.
We are, as always, ready to contribute to this process by supporting the Government in its efforts to strengthen Romania’s functional market economy. In this respect, we welcome the increase to 50% of the supplementary deductibility of R&D expenses.
The aim of this coalition is to become an attentive observer and supporter of measures to achieve economic reform, as well as for encouraging adherence to Romania’s agreement with the IMF, which serves as a guarantor for a stable business environment and improves Romania’s competitiveness internationally.
This coalition was established in consultation with diplomatic missions in Romania from EU countries, and those from Canada and the United States.
In the above context, the leaders of the business associations met with Prime-Minister Victor Ponta and discussed current economic situation, the factors affecting the business environment, and the necessary measures to be taken to improve Romania’s economic situation.