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UbiFrance representative: Romania running first-time trade surplus with France
At the end of November 2010, the Romania - France balance of trade registered for the first time in the countries' bilateral relation a surplus of 428 million euros for Romania, Catalin Frateanu, representative of the UbiFrance Economic Mission of the Embassy of France in Bucharest, declared on May 9 in Targu Mures (center Romania).
Attending the Business Mission organized at the Grand Business Center in Targu Mures, Frateanu said that France is one of Romania's major trade partners, ranking third among foreign investors in Romania.
'In the first 11 months of 2010, French exports to Romania witnessed a dynamic trend, hitting 2.31 billion euros and marking a 16.5 pct advance from the same period in 2009. The increase in French exports was supported mainly by Romania's industrial performance, with intermediate goods, professional equipment and equipment for the automotive industry representing the main categories of outbound products. In the same year, Romania's exports to France saw an important advance of 31.2 pct, with ‘The Hexagon' placed third in the ranking of Romania's trade partners,' said Frateanu.
The representative of the UbiFrance Economic Mission said that car maker Dacia has been one of the economic growth engines, with 104,642 vehicles exported to France, up 70 pct compared to 2009; Dacia's exports to France totaled one billion euros.
'For the first time in the two countries' trade relations, at the end of November 2010, the balance of trade was running a surplus of 428 million euros for Romania. Moreover, France plays an extremely important role in the Romanian economy, being the third-largest investor in our country with over 7 billion euros in gross investments, at the end of 2008. There are 3,000 companies running on French capital in Romania, employing 110,000 people,' said Catalin Frateanu. He mentioned that at the end of 2009, the aggregate turnover of the 3,000 companies had reached 13.4 billion euros, compared with 11.8 billion euros in 2008, which shows the intention of the French companies to invest in Romania in the medium and long term.
'It thus results that French companies have made a long-standing commitment to Romania, as they have a well-defined medium- and long-term strategy and continue to make investments, as proves the latest important investment in the Dacia Renault Technical Centre in Titu (southern Romania), as well as lower investments which are however extremely helpful for the development of Romanian industry,' said the representative of the UbiFrance Economic Mission.