Intel will invest several millions of euros into a software development center which will be located in Romania and which will initially hire a staff of 25, mainly focusing on the development of the MeeGo open-source platform. Intel Romania Software Development Center will initially work on the MeeGo platform, a joint project of The Linux Foundation, supported by Intel and Nokia.

Romanian overdue payments on loans of at least RON 20,000 (around EUR 4,700) more than doubled to RON 14.6 billion (EUR 3.4 billion) in September compared to the same month last year, according to data from the Romanian Central Bank (BNR). Compared with August, overdue loan payments grew by 7.7 percent in September, data shows.

Foreign direct investments reached EUR 3.4 billion in Romania last year, according to data from the Romanian Central Bank (BNR), taking the entire stock of FDI to the country to almost EUR 50 billion.

Real estate investment manager Valad has signed a three year lease for the A1 Business Park in Bucharest, a contract worth EUR 310,000, and also expanded an existing lease contract.

Romania's construction output fell 15.1 percent in September compared to the same month a year earlier, with decreases in all sectors, according to the National Institute for Statistics. Residential building works fell 35.9 percent on the year in September, while civil engineering works and non-residential constructions were down 12.7 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.

Two thirds of business leaders in Romania do not expect a significant economic recovery in 2011, while one third believe there are no clear prospects regarding the end of the crisis at all, found a recent AT Kearney survey. While the crisis has a clear impact on all industries, only 10 percent of the CEOs interviewed see a low effect of the crisis on their own industry compared to the other ones, according to AT Kearney.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has chosen Romania to open its first mono-brand store in Europe. The HP Brand Store was opened in Plaza Romania shopping center in Bucharest and will be operated by Altex Romania.

InterAgro group, owned by Romanian businessman Ioan Niculae, will invest EUR 72 million in building co-generation power plants on industrial platforms across Romania and hopes to recover the investment in five years.

*Head of GTC: people come to the mall but don't buy anything. If we don't do something to make them buy, the market will crash – in Ziarul Financiar
*Romanian architect Dorin Stefan will design a 300-meter tower in Taiwan – in Ziarul Financiar
*Only 10,000 farmers in Romania are under 30 – in Ziarul Financiar
*Highway construction will have a new standard price per kilometer: EUR 5-6 million – in Ziarul Financiar
*Romania during the communist period had twice as much foreign tourists than it has today – in Gandul
*Isarescu – VAT will not be changed for a couple of years – in Adevarul

The Romanian Central Bank (BNR) governor Mugur Isarescu (in picture) said the value added tax, set at 24 percent, will remain unchanged “at least for a few years”. Isarescu stressed out that the country will face fiscal instability unless the sales tax is kept at the current level, he said in a TV interview on Sunday.

Intel will invest several millions of euros into a software development center which will be located in Romania and which will initially hire a staff of 25, mainly focusing on the development of the MeeGo open-source platform. Intel Romania Software Development Center will initially work on the MeeGo platform, a joint project of The Linux Foundation, supported by Intel and Nokia.

Romanian overdue payments on loans of at least RON 20,000 (around EUR 4,700) more than doubled to RON 14.6 billion (EUR 3.4 billion) in September compared to the same month last year, according to data from the Romanian Central Bank (BNR). Compared with August, overdue loan payments grew by 7.7 percent in September, data shows.

Foreign direct investments reached EUR 3.4 billion in Romania last year, according to data from the Romanian Central Bank (BNR), taking the entire stock of FDI to the country to almost EUR 50 billion.

Real estate investment manager Valad has signed a three year lease for the A1 Business Park in Bucharest, a contract worth EUR 310,000, and also expanded an existing lease contract.

Romania's construction output fell 15.1 percent in September compared to the same month a year earlier, with decreases in all sectors, according to the National Institute for Statistics. Residential building works fell 35.9 percent on the year in September, while civil engineering works and non-residential constructions were down 12.7 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.

Two thirds of business leaders in Romania do not expect a significant economic recovery in 2011, while one third believe there are no clear prospects regarding the end of the crisis at all, found a recent AT Kearney survey. While the crisis has a clear impact on all industries, only 10 percent of the CEOs interviewed see a low effect of the crisis on their own industry compared to the other ones, according to AT Kearney.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has chosen Romania to open its first mono-brand store in Europe. The HP Brand Store was opened in Plaza Romania shopping center in Bucharest and will be operated by Altex Romania.

InterAgro group, owned by Romanian businessman Ioan Niculae, will invest EUR 72 million in building co-generation power plants on industrial platforms across Romania and hopes to recover the investment in five years.

*Head of GTC: people come to the mall but don't buy anything. If we don't do something to make them buy, the market will crash – in Ziarul Financiar
*Romanian architect Dorin Stefan will design a 300-meter tower in Taiwan – in Ziarul Financiar
*Only 10,000 farmers in Romania are under 30 – in Ziarul Financiar
*Highway construction will have a new standard price per kilometer: EUR 5-6 million – in Ziarul Financiar
*Romania during the communist period had twice as much foreign tourists than it has today – in Gandul
*Isarescu – VAT will not be changed for a couple of years – in Adevarul

The Romanian Central Bank (BNR) governor Mugur Isarescu (in picture) said the value added tax, set at 24 percent, will remain unchanged “at least for a few years”. Isarescu stressed out that the country will face fiscal instability unless the sales tax is kept at the current level, he said in a TV interview on Sunday.