The pandemic has made its mark on foreign direct investments (FDI) across Europe, and Romania has also been heavily affected.

Some 46% of the investors in Romania canceled, decreased, or paused investments, while 51% didn’t change their investment plans in any way, according to the EY Attractiveness Survey Romania, the first EY attractiveness survey dedicated to the Romanian market.

However, investors are still optimistic and believe Romania will become more attractive after the COVID-19 pandemic passes.

Supply chain (35%) and manufacturing operations (36%) are regarded as the main investment attractions.

“FDI could represent a central driving force for Romania’s post-pandemic economic growth. But for this to happen, Romania will have to reshape its approach towards attracting FDI to increase its attractiveness for foreign investors. As COVID-19 is accelerating technology adoption, sustainable practices and supply chain reorganization, Romania must act efficiently to adapt to these emerging trends and the investor’s current expectations in a new reframed business environment,” says Bogdan Ion, Country Managing Partner EY Romania & Moldova and Chief Operating Officer for EY South-East & Central Europe and Central Asia (CESA).

The majority of foreign investors believe Romania should focus on its agriculture and IT assets to increase its competitiveness.

Romania should also focus its efforts on funding key areas like education, technological transformation, and infrastructure.

In 2019, 78 foreign investment projects were carried out in Romania, a decrease of approximately 28% compared to the previous year (113 projects in 2018), placing our country on the 15th place in Europe, according to EY. However, the value of FDI didn’t decrease significantly from 2018 to 2019.

(Photo: Diony Teixeira/ Dreamstime)

andrei@romania-insider.com