On the sidelines of the very important bilateral between Italy and Romania, where numerous cooperation agreements were signed, an economic forum opened by our Minister Antonio Taiani and his Romanian counterpart Luminita Odobescu also took place at the close. The Romanian Minister of Economy Stefan Radu Oprea, Minister of Infrastructure Sorin Grindeanu, and our Deputy Foreign Minister Edmondo Cirielli also attended.
Following the meetings in Parliament in the morning, several members of our Council took part in the proceedings: vice-presidents Vincenzo Moderno and Pasquale Silvestro, treasurer Filippo Scurti, and councillor Marco Pannunzio, as well as secretary general Giovanni Pometti and president Roberto Musneci, of course. Also invited was Assocamerestero Secretary General Domenico Mauriello.
The forum took the form of a series of interesting testimonies by Italian and Romanian entrepreneurs in various industrial sectors who briefly shared their individual experiences moderated by Daniela Mogavero of Askanews. Although the Chamber system was not scheduled to speak, some considerations arose from the speeches and comments:
1) Romania is and remains an important and attractive economic partner despite the European financial situation and the necessary measures have created new pressures on businesses and consumers
2) the worrying geopolitical situation in the region does not seem to affect business confidence in the medium to long-term
3) the future reconstruction of Ukraine positions Romania as a privileged operating platform for our companies
4) The relocation model to Romania for allegedly low labour costs is coming to an end. Higher technology production, added value, and geostrategic reasons underpin the new investments
5) the significant infrastructure investments planned will act as a transmission belt for the internationalization of the companies present
Lastly, we believe, as CCIPR, that despite the positive entrepreneurial experiences of both large companies and SMEs, we must continue to dialogue on certain key issues such as taxation, labor market productivity in the light of training processes and migration flows, and the development of financial markets to support both industrial development and bilateral trade.
