Prime Minister Marcel Cholaku met on Wednesday at the Victoria Palace with representatives of IT giants Apple, Amazon and IBM, to whom he informed that “digital reform is the most important component of the administrative reform carried out by the government.” The Victoria Palace press release made no mention of the liquidation of some IT facilities, another measure announced in the fiscal package prepared by Cholak.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister received delegations from Apple, Amazon and IBM participating in the Three Seas Initiative business forum organized by the Government of Romania on September 7, 2023 at the Victoria Palace.

Minister of Research, Innovation and Digitalization Bohdan Ivan and Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Štefan-Radu Oprea also took part in the meetings.

The discussion was focused on the possibilities of cooperation between our country and the three largest companies with the aim of accelerating the digitalization of the administrative system and accelerating the digital reform of public administration, the Government notes.

• “The digital reform is the most important component of the administrative reform initiated by the Government. Romania and Romanians have been waiting a long time for modern and more efficient public services. We can respond to this natural expectation by working together with experts and companies from the technology industry.” said Prime Minister Marcel Cholaku.

Discussions with Apple covered environmental, cybersecurity, education and health issues

The Apple delegation was led by Sébastien Grosz, Director of Governmental Affairs for Europe.

• “Discussions with Apple representatives took place around topics that the company deals with around the world, with an emphasis on the environment and cyber security solutions.
• Two other key aspects of the meeting were cooperation opportunities for the digitization of education and innovation in the field of medical technology, two areas that the Government of Romania considers to be a priority.
• Cooperation for cloud services, investments in infrastructure and cutting-edge research projects were topics of discussion with Amazon representatives. This is stated in the message of the government.

Negotiations with Amazon focused on moving the state’s IT systems to the cloud

The prime minister and two Romanian ministers also met Wednesday with a delegation from Amazon led by Michael Punke, the company’s vice president for global public policy.

• “The meeting was focused on opportunities for cooperation in strategic areas of digitalization. The move to the cloud of central government and the development of research and innovation projects in areas such as artificial intelligence, data analysis and cyber security were just two areas of discussion.” the Government declares.

The talks with IBM were about the government cloud and the creation of research centers

The third meeting of the Romanian officials took place with David Barnes, vice president of global personnel policy of the IBM company.

• “During the discussions with IBM representatives, the Prime Minister of Romania, Marcel Čolaku, and the Minister of Digitalization, Bohdan Ivan, discussed such topics as the government cloud, cyber security solutions, and the creation of advanced research and development centers focused on advanced technologies. technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), cyber security and cloud computing,” the statement also said.

The meetings at the Victoria Palace took place in the context of the presence of foreign delegations in Bucharest to participate in the 3 Seas Initiative summit and the I3M business forum.

The government has said nothing about withdrawing some tax benefits from the IT sector

The Government’s press release does not say anything about the intentions announced by government officials to withdraw individual objects of the IT sphere.

Workers in the IT sector, who are currently exempt from income tax, will continue to have this benefit only for salary income up to 10,000 lei per month, but the new draft decree also provides for an exemption from Pillar II type pension contributions (currently 3.75%), according to the latest draft of the resolution, which was reviewed by Profit.ro.

The government is thus trying to combine benefits granted to IT workers (income tax exemption) with those granted in the construction, agriculture and food industry sectors, where there is also a 10,000 lei threshold, income tax exemption and contributions to the second level, the publication claims.

I3M Business Forum: More than 1,000 businessmen and government officials are expected in Bucharest tomorrow

The I3M Business Forum takes place in Bucharest on Wednesday, September 7, and brings together more than 1,000 businessmen, senior government officials from around the world, experts and representatives of civil society.

The purpose of the I3M business forum is to stimulate investment in infrastructure on the North-South axis and reconfiguration of neighborly relations in the region, especially in the context of numerous and long-lasting violations caused by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

The initiative of the three seas (Baltic, Black and Adriatic) is a flexible and informal political platform that unites 12 member states of the European Union located between the three mentioned seas – Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia. , Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

The Forum is also attended by strategic partners who support the Three Seas Initiative: the European Commission, Germany and the USA, as well as special guests and representatives of relevant international organizations.