There is a desire to invest in Romania, say half of the respondents surveyed by the Council of Foreign Investors (CIS) in their annual survey. “For this year, investments are planned at the level of last year, and 40% of respondents say that they plan to invest larger amounts compared to the previous period,” CIS said in a statement.

Ramona Khurubita, vice-president of the Council of Foreign InvestorsPhoto: Inquam Photos / Sabin Cirstoveanu

It will be recalled that the BNR announced direct investments of non-residents for 7 billion euros in 2021 – the best year for foreign investments.

What else do the survey data show?

  • More than 50% of respondents plan to expand their workforce, and 37% maintain these plans for the next 12 months at the same level as last year.
  • Unfortunately, perceptions of the availability of suitable staff remain subdued, with only 45% of respondents believing that the workforce is competitive. The results also reflect trends in hybrid working, with 45% of companies predicting that more than a quarter of employees will continue to work from home.
  • The trend remains in line with previous issues with poor results when it comes to infrastructure, transparency and consistency of public policy implementation, reduction of bureaucracy and regulatory burden. 65% of respondents to the spring 2022 edition believe that these areas remain uncompetitive and that reforms are needed to catch up with European countries.
  • The latest edition of the survey also highlights other measures that could boost investor confidence, e.g high-quality dialogue with investors and consultations with the business environment modeled after the Investment Forum organized by FIC in partnership with the Government of Romania. Creating clear strategies for priority investments and actively working with potential investors through an investment promotion agency can also help attract private investment.

The Council of Foreign Investors has published the results of the latest edition of the Business Sentiment Index (BSI), conducted in the spring of 2022. The survey shows that moderate optimism remains among investors, but under the influence of uncertainty and current challenges such as: the crisis in the energy market, the military conflict in Ukraine, inflationary pressures affecting supply chains and consumer demand, or the erosion of final consumer incomes are possible the consequences of which were recorded in the May issue of the Inflation Report published by the BNR.

The full results of this year’s FIC Spring Business Sentiment Index can be found here.