March 2004
Foreign investments in Romania to exceed 2 billion dollars this year
Alcoa to build plant in Romania
Volume of Romanian exports goes up by 11.3 percent in first two months of 2004
National Tourism Fair 2004
Foreign investments in Romania to exceed 2 billion dollars this year
Foreign investments in Romania will increase in 2004 by 30-40 percent as against 2003, reaching a level of over 2 billion dollars, said the President of the Romanian Agency for Foreign Investments (ARIS) Marian Saniuta . According to the preliminary data supplied by the National Bank of Romania (BNR), foreign direct investments attracted by Romania last year stood at 1.345 billion euros or 1.574 billion dollars. Compared with 2002, when they stood at some 1.3 billion dollars, in 2003 foreign direct investments went up 37 percent. ''This level is very close to what we predicted allowing for the tendency of acquisitions and mergers. If we take into consideration also the signing during the second half of 2003 of the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR) privatization contract, i.e. 220 million euros, we may say that foreign direct investments in 2003 stood at nearly 1.8 billion dollars,'' the ARIS president said.
(source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Conference on new European democracies and foreign investments starts debates
More than 300 officials from 15 Central and East European countries, U.S. administration officials, as well as representatives of several American companies met in Bucharest on Wednesday as part of a conference called "New Partnerships: Opportunities to Invest in New European Democracies," which was opened in the presence of President Ion Iliescu, U.S. ambassador in Bucharest Michael Guest and President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Peter Watson.
Iliescu said in an address to the participants that all countries in the region, whether or not they are European Union candidates, face the same issues related to outdated road or energy infrastructures and non-lucrative agriculture, but he stressed that the recent positive developments, the pace of the economic growth, the highly-skilled low-cost labour are as many advantages to foreign investors, i.e. the U.S. investors.
The Romanian head of state stressed that farming also has significant potential in terms of implementing an eco-friendly agriculture, yet investments are needed.
He added that steps must be taken to curb bureaucracy, streamline administration, increase transparency and ensure a stable, healthy business environment, recent developments being encouraging in this respect.
The President praised the level of economic and commercial relations between the United States and Romania, which have increased over the past three years, adding that American investments in Romania amounting to some $700 million are still scanty. He stressed that the best way to promote investment opportunities in Romania rests with the U.S. companies already operating here, as they know the situation and the difficulties encountered by the Romanian economy from the inside.
OPIC president Watson said that, by backing up the international coalition against terrorism, new European democracies turned out to be strong allies of the U.S. He voiced hope that the Bucharest event will contribute to the fulfillment of the pledges made by President George W. Bush to strengthen and expand the economic ties between the U.S. and new European democracies.
Ambassador Guest encouraged American investors to enter these new markets, adding that they will benefit from real investment opportunities.
(source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Romanian Companies Might Buy Stock in Neighboring Countries
Romanian firms might become interested in acquiring portfolio stakes in other companies in Eastern and Central Europe, following OPIC and Eximbank’s agreement to set up an investment fund for the region, Deputy Commerce Minister Eugen Dijmarescu said on Wednesday. It is quite unpleasant to have to sell products in US dollars and buy others in euros. "As more American companies establish partnerships with the Romanian ones, we hope to increase the capacity of producing in Romanian lei, which will be a benefit in the long-term, since we can control our currency," said the official. Some 300 representatives from 15 countries attended the OPIC-sponsored Conference on Forging New Partnerships in Emerging Europe Investment that was held at the Marriott Hotel in Bucharest March 9-11. Bosnia. Bulgaria, Croatia the Czech Republic, Kosovo, and Romania presented some of the most interesting investment opportunities.
(source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Washington Earmarks US$2.5 Bn for Eastern Europe
The U.S. Administration has set an upper limit of US$ 2.5 billion on its investments in Eastern Europe’s emerging democracies, Finance Minister Mihai Tanasescu told the press on Wednesday. Romania, as a soon-to-be NATO member and thanks to its economic development, has become increasingly attractive to U.S. investors, said the minister. American businessmen, he said, are especially interested in areas such as oil and gas, telecoms, particularly mobile phones, and the hotel industry. They also want to boost Citibank’s role in Romania, Tanasescu said after attending an OPIC-sponsored Conference on Forging New Partnerships in Emerging Europe Investment that was held in Bucharest March 9-11.
(source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
OPIC to set up new investment fund for emerging economies
President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Peter Watson on Wednesday told the official opening of the conference dubbed "New Partnerships: Investment Opportunities in Emerging Europe" that his institution would set up in a few months a new investment fund for transition economies.
OPIC will contribute 65 million dollars to the fund, which accounts for more than 45 percent of the fund's overall capital.
Watson stressed that in its 33-year history, OPIC has invested nearly 2.7 billion dollars in 126 projects in emerging countries in Europe, transferring technology and granting consultancy, stimulating economic growth and raising living standards for thousands of people in the projects' host countries.
U.S. ambassador to Romania Michael Guest underscored that the meeting in Bucharest could help establish clear business contacts both between U.S. companies and local ones and between companies in this area of Europe.
The focus of the conference, which is being held March 9-11 in cooperation with SIMEST Italian Financial Institution for the development and promotion of Italian business abroad, is to highlight business opportunities in European emerging countries.
(source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Alcoa to build plant in Romania
Pittsburgh-based Alcoa will open a manufacturing facility in Romania.
Alcoa, the world's largest aluminum producer, said its European Extruded & End Products division would build a plant in Arad County, in northwest Romania, to produce extruded parts for the building and construction markets.
The facility is expected to be ready in 2005 and employ about 200, according to Alcoa, which has around 120,000 workers in 41 countries. The company did not disclose the cost to build the plant in Romania.
It will be Alcoa's third facility in that country, though. Another Alcoa business, Alcoa Fujikura, has two automotive-parts plants there.
"Without exception, the information, openness and willing to work with Alcoa were critical to our decision to begin operations here," Philippe Royer, president of the European Extrusions division, said in a written statement.
(source: Pittsburgh Business Times)
Volume of Romanian exports goes up by 11.3 percent in first two months of 2004
The volume of the Romanian exports has increased in the first two months of this year by 11.3 percent as against the same period of the previous year, standing at 2.7 billion euros, reads a release of the Romanian Ministry of Economy and Trade (MEC). During the same period, the imports totalled 3.3 billion euros, up by 14.8 percent as compared with last year. Under these circumstances, the deficit of the balance of trade stood at 593,2 million euros at the end of February 2004. In February the volume of exports increased by 22.7 percent, reaching 1.5 billion euros as compared with January, whereas the increase in imports dropped by 15 percent, their volume being 1.77 billion euros. The deficit of the balance of trade registered in February 2004 dropped by 45 million euros as compared with January. The monthly volume of the Romanian exports registered in February 2004 represents a historical record, comparable only with the figure registered in July 2003. In turn, the imports reached their lowest level after August last year.
Within the exports, the most important increases were registered in chemical fertilizers, plastics and rubber materials, clothes, steel and aluminium products, mechanical and electrical apparatus and devices, rolling stock, cars and furniture. For these groups of products the increases in exports were an average of over 10 million euros over January-February 2004.
(source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
The Romexpo exhibition centre in Bucharest over April 1-4 will house the National Tourism Fair (TNT) 2004, which is organized in cooperation with the professional organizations and associations working in tourism. This 11th tourism fair will be held under the motto reading "Destinations for All Holidays." TNT 2004 gathers together 269 participants (237 Romanian companies and 32 foreign ones), a fact that is an increase in the number of participants by about 9 percent as against the previous fair. Representatives of nine countries (Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Romania, Spain and Turkey) attend this fair. Co-organizers of this event are the National Association of Tourism Agencies (ANAT), the National Association of Rural, Ecologic and Cultural Tourism (ANTREC), the Federation of Hotel Industry in Romania (RIHR), the Federation of Employers' Association in Romanian Tourism (FPTR) and the Employers' Organization of Balneary Tourism in Romania (OPTBR). The event is held under the patronage of the Romanian Ministry of Transports, Civil Engineering and Tourism (MTCT).
(source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)