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romania
ROMANIA

Romania - an established business destination for global investors

 

Healthy growing economy:

 

  • Romania continues to have a sustainable economic growth. In Q3 2018, compared to Q2 2018, our country registered a 1.9% economic growth (according to the NIS report from 11.01.2019), ranking second after Malta (according to the Eurostat report from 07.12.2018).

  • GDP registered an increase of 4.4% on gross series in Q3 2018, compared to Q3 2017 and the seasonally adjusted GDP growth was 4.2% (according to the NIS report from 11.01.2019).

  • GDP in 2017 (semi-final data) was up 856,726.6 mill lei, with 7.0% higher than in 2016 (according to the NIS report from 20.12.2018).

  • Romania is one of the leading inward FDI recipients in Europe, ranking 10th with USD 5.8Bn foreign investment attracted in 2017, representing 3% of the total ISD attracted in Europe (Source: Financial Times, The fDi Report 2018).

  • Romania also ranked 10th in terms of FDI new projects implemented (155) in 2017, thus registering the second increase (40%) in Europe after France (48%).

  • FDI value in 2017 registered EUR 4,797 million, an increase of 6.2% against 2016 (EUR 4,517 million). (According to the Monthly Bulletin of the National Bank of Romania - October 2018, statistical section)

  • In the first 11 months of 2018, the FDI registered EUR 4842 million, increase 8.56% against the same period in 2017 (EUR 4460 million). (According to the Balance of payments of the National Bank of Romania - January 2019).

  • Romania is “recommended for investment" by all three major international rating agencies (S&P, Moody’s and Fitch).

  • The annual inflation rate, calculated according to the Harmonized Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP) was 3.0% in December 2018 (the second value in the EU) being overtaken only by Estonia with an inflation of 3.3% (according to the Eurostat report from 17.01.2019).

  • The unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted series) was 3.8% in December 2018 (according to the Eurostat report from 31.01.2019).

  • Romania owns 86 industrial parks spread across the country - both private and public ownership (13 are Greenfield, 15 under construction and 58 operational) with access to utilities & benefits packages according to their focus. The total area of industrial parks is 3217.69 ha.

  • Romania ranks 13th in EU for percentage of enterprises in analyzing “big data” (11% of enterprises).

  • Romania ranks 2nd in EU for average peak connection speeds and 6th for 4 Mbps broadband adoption in Q1 2017 (according to Akamai Q1 2017 ’’State of the internet report’’).

  • Romania has one of the largest domestic markets in CEE, being strategically positioned at the cross- roads of the traditional commercial and energy routes between the EU-28, Asia and the CIS countries, holding 1/3 of the Danube river, 200 km sea shore, as well as the biggest and deepest port at the Black Sea - Constanta.

  • In S1 2018 Romania has the 6th lowest gas prices and the 6th lowest electricity prices in EU for non- householders.

  • Romania is the 2nd largest country in CEE and the largest in SEE in terms of size (the 9th in EU28) and population (the 7th in EU28), with almost 20 million inhabitants.

 

  • As member of the EU, Romania offers access to a 500M consumers market, a great potential for those who are targeting expansion. The entrepreneurs who choose our country as a destination for investment implementation benefit from all the advantages that are consequent to the European investment status (including the common customs policy).

  • Romania is considered a "safe" country, fact confirmed by the 0 value of the global index of terrorism for our country.

  • Romania also offers state aid schemes for supporting the foreign capital influx into the domestic economy for investments exceeding EUR 1 million or creating minimum 10 new jobs:

  • Minimum EUR 1 M investment: Eligible costs are: construction of new buildings; renting costs for constructions related to the initial investment; capex aimed at technical installations and tools; acquisition of intellectual property

  • Minimum 10 new jobs / per location - Eligible costs are: salary costs registered for a 2 consecutive year period resulted as a direct consequence of the investment; salary costs are comprised of gross average annual salary plus benefits

 

Competitive tax:

  • 16% corporate tax

  • 19% VAT

  • 5% VAT for accommodation in the hotel sector or in similar sectors, restaurant services (except for alcoholic beverages) and catering

  • 0% income tax for employees in IT&C and R&D

  • 0% tax on reinvested profit on companies investing in new technological equipment

  • exemption on the property transfer tax for assets valued at maximum RON 450.000 (EUR 100.000), and a 3% rate for the difference exceeding the limit

  • 5% dividend tax rate, 0% for EU shareholders

  • 10% income tax for the employee, reduced from 16% starting with January 1st , 2018

  • social contributions starting January 1st 2018: employee – 35% (25% pension, 10% health); employer – 2,25% work insurance contribution

  • exemption on land, building and urban planning tax for investments implemented in industrial, scientific or technological park

 

People:

Skilled labor force at competitive prices:

  • Starting January 1st 2019 in Romania, the minimum monthly gross wage is RON 2,080/month (~EUR 446/month) and for employees with higher education and at least one year old in the field of higher education is 2,350/month (~EUR 504/month). The projects we are aiming at attracting are no longer labor intensive as we are shifting towards value added activities.

  • Gross average wage in November 2018 was 4,658 lei (2.8% higher against October 2018)

  • Net average wage in November 2018 was 2,792 lei (2.6% higher against October 2018)

  • The highest value of the average net nominal wages was registered in service activities in information technology (including information service activities) (6835lei), while the lowest in accommodation and food service activities (1589 lei).

  • In Q3 2018, in Romania was registered the highest labour cost, an increase of 13.9% compared to Q3 2017 (according to the Eurostat report from 14.12.2018).

  • Hourly labour costs in 2017: 6.3 Euros, second lowest in EU after Bulgaria (4.9 Euros).

  • Dual education – in this sense was established Vocational Training Authority in Dual System and partnerships with the major universities in the country.

 

  • Romania boasts the first place in Europe and the sixth in the world for number of certified IT specialists. (Source: APT, Sept. 2017)

  • Enormous reservoir of educated talent, enjoying an extensively creative potential and a highly skilled workforce, at competitive prices, with reduced culture and language barriers. 97% of the Romanian high school students learn at least two foreign languages whilst 90% of students speak English and at least one more language, 26% speak French as we are a francophone country, 17% speak Spanish, German and other.

  • Furthermore, there are over 400 000 university students in Romania, with approximately 100 000 graduates every year and over 50% majoring in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), especially, in Computer Science, Engineering, Telecommunications, Biology, Mathematics and Chemistry. We are in fact proudly acknowledging that there are more engineers/ capita in Romania than in India, China, USA or Russia but also plenty of economists, medical professionals and law graduates for building successful businesses.

  • Our talent pool enjoys reduced cultural and language barriers (Romanian is the second spoken language in Microsoft/USA after English)

 

 

Key sectors

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Automotive:

 

  • key sector in Romania, enjoying a long tradition in the business

  • availability of skilled labour force at competitive prices

  • 23.5 Bn industry size in 2017

  • Romania has two of the world’s leading car producers Renault and Ford

  • almost 600 suppliers

  • profiling itself as one of the regional hubs in automotive

 

IT&C:

  • growth driver and a big contributor to Romania’s GDP

  • some of the most preeminent international companies in the field, including global players like IBM, HP, Oracle, Microsoft, Adobe, Endava etc.

  • 5.2% contribution to the GDP

  • 4.0 Bn industry size in 2017

  • the IT specialists represent an significant category in the economic ecosystem, bringing their value- added contribution to the development of other sectors as well, through a horizontal integration of IT in many other industries (concept «Industry 4.0»)

  • the IT sector’s growth made it an enabler to automotive, aerospace, chemicals, agriculture and many others. By creating and further strengthening new or existing partnerships between universities and the business community, we are increasingly becoming part of the Industry 4.0 revolution; profiling itself more and more as a regional hub in IT

 

R&D:

 

  • pillar of strength in putting Romania on the map of innovation

  • 0% income tax for employees in IT&C and R&D

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