Legal Outside the Box

Photo credits: CEOE

On April 13, the Forum on investments opportunities in Romania (‘El foro sobre oportunidades de inversión en Rumanía’) was held in Madrid, at the headquarters of CEOE.

And I take this opportunity to thank CEOE, ICEX, the Romanian Embassy in Madrid and the Romanian Government for their invitation, and for organising an event which, I dare say, was a real success.

At the event, a pragmatic view of Romania as ideal country to invest was presented.

Remarkable interventions in the first part of the forum were that of His Excellency Mr. Vilcu Ion, the Ambassador of Romania in Spain, of Mrs. Alicia Montalvo, Director of Institutional Cooperation and Coordination for ICEX Spain, and of His Excellency Mr. Manuel Costescu, State Secretary of Romania’s Ministry of Economy.

While all three had welcomed in their own way Romania’s great advancements, a common conclusion could be drawn from their presentations: Romania is an attractive country for investors. Presently, Romania is the place to be for any EU investor. And particularly sectors such as IT, R&D, agriculture, infrastructure, biotechnology, and real estate are very interesting for investors.

Not only does the Romanian state offer state aid to investors, but access to European funding for projects developed in Romania is available – a fund pool worth approximately 31 billion euros.

Naturally, all speeches were illustrative, and although I will not get into their details, I can say that all of the speakers had a practical discourse, without superfluous artificialities, and grounded in useful data. On this account, in addition to those already mentioned, I also wish to extend my thanks to all the speakers: Mr. Florentin Tuca, Managing Partner at Tuca Zbarcea & Asociații, Mrs. Simona Alice Man, State Secretary in Romania’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. José Vicente Gonzaléz Pérez, Vicepresident of CEOE and President of the CEOE Commission, Mr. Carlos Sanz, President of ASEMER, Mr. Germán León Úbeda-Romero, CEO of Agrovin, Mrs. Ioana Lazar, Vice-director of GED Capital, Mr. Alejandro Serrano, Director of AZVI, and last but not least, Mr Mario Garcés Sanagustin, Under-secretary  for Development in the Spanish Ministry of Development.

Their conclusions were the following:

1) Romania is a strategic partner of Spain, and this is reflected by the close cooperation between the two countries at institutional and entrepreneurial levels;

2) Romania has made great advancements and removed the stigma of corruption, even if a few steps still need to be made;

3) A company that would have invested €1 in Romania in 2000, would have had €5 in 2015. This is a tremendous growth of 500%;

4) The IT and Software sector in Romania has evolved from the outsourcing phase to industry spearhead;

5) Agriculture is also one of the more interesting sectors in Romania for two reasons: a) fertile land and a long-lasting tradition in agriculture; b) European funds for agriculture;

6) The infrastructure still needs to develop in Romania. Constantly tenders for roads, railways, rehabilitation etc are being held.

7) The Spanish and Romanian culture are very close to each other. The lifestyle is similar. These things make some Spaniards, amongst them being some of the speakers at the forum, that arrive in Romania to decide not to return to Spain and continue their entrepreneurial adventure in Romania;

8) There are still many profitable market niches and entrepreneurial opportunities;

9) Romania needs the know-how of Spanish companies;

10) Romania is currently one of the best country to invest within the EU.

As I have said in other articles and interviews, I personally consider that for some years Romania is a good place to invest or start an entrepreneurial venture. Moreover, due to the operations in which I am involved as a lawyer, I noted that with each month that passes investors’ interest is growing.

What I say to all my clients before investing in Romania, or anywhere in the world, I repeat here: go ahead, but only after you have done all homework. Also, go accompanied by a lawyer who is acquainted with both markets (Romanian and Spanish). If done so, the probability of a successful entrepreneurship in Romania is almost guaranteed.