Ion JINGA, Romania’s ambassador to London: British investors interested in Romanian textile, IT, aircraft, machines and equipment, plastic material and pharmaceutical industries
Date: 12-03-2010
“At economic level, despite the effects of the economic-financial crisis which made commercial relations and investment exchanges register a deadlock in the last year, this year’s prospects are favorable, Romania being one of the first ten priority destinations for British investments. We are looking forward to the re-launch of the Romanian and British economies and the visit of London’s Lord Mayor in Bucharest at the end of April will be a good opportunity for new joint projects,” Ion Jinga declared recently to the Romanian media.According to him, economic relations between Romania and Great Britain have always been close, with a positive evolution in the last years, Unfortunately, the global economic and financial crisis has affected commercial exchanges between the two countries, their level being in 2009 about 1.8 billion euro, with a positive balance of about 120 million euro in favor of Romania. Great Britain ranks seventh in the top of destinations for Romanian exports, and 14th on the list of countries of origin for our imports.
As for economic sectors in Romania which continue to be attractive for British investors, Mr Jinga said British investments ranked 10th in the top of direct foreign investments in Romania. “There are over 4,000 companies with British capital with a total invested volume of 4 billion euro. The fields of increased interest among British investors are the textile, IT, aircraft, machines and equipment, plastic materials and pharmaceutical industries. Romania was recently appointed a priority market for British investors in the field of railroads and ports, of the water and environment protection sectors, to which financial services and airports are added for the first time,” he said.
In his opinion, the purchase power of the population has registered a substantial drop even in Great Britain, a fact reflected in the drop of Romanian exports in the local market. “The recovery of British economy, even if fragile for the time being, represents an opportunity for Romanian firms to actively promote their products and services in that market,” Ion Jinga added.
Referring to the presence of Romanian investors in Great Britain, Mr Jinga showed that “the level of Romanian investments in the British market is still low, being represented by small and medium companies. Most investments are in the field of distribution, mainly in the food and wine sectors, as well as in real estate transactions. Once the new strategy for export and investment promotion is promoted, the number of those firms will grow and the fields in which Romanian businessmen invest will diversify. That process can be accelerated by elaborating a country branding strategy to help the business environment in promoting fields we are good at such as IT, aircraft, engineering industries, symbols of Romanian economy which can open new access ways to international markets, the British one included.”
