Representatives of the Coalition for the Development of Romania (CDR), an initiative of the Romanian business community coordinated since the beginning of this year by Dragos Anastasiu (President of the Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce) (photo), presented the priorities of the business environment to the Government members and expressed their willingness to support the Government with the necessary expertise and solutions to correct the vulnerabilities signalled.
The priority issues raised by the Coalition for the Development of Romania during the first meeting with the new Government are:
- Lack of workforce, especially the skilled one, both in terms of volume (following the demographic trend accompanied by emigration) and quality (an educational system not adapted to current needs), as well as in terms of attitude towards work
- Lack of legislation’s predictability, lack of transparency and real dialogue between local and central decision-makers and the business community, which in the long run generates economic policies that are not adapted to the rhythm of development of the private initiative
- The suffocating bureaucracy, which is largely due to the lack of digitization of public services provided by state authorities (especially ANAF)
- Romania’s overall poor image abroad, contradictory with the country’s real potential, which leads to big problems in the fields of export, foreign investments and tourism
- The unsustainable (although necessary and desirable) wage increase, especially in the public sector, which automatically leads to salary increases in the private sector, although without a connection with the productivity
„Despite the economic growth registered last year, we are worried about the lack of its sustainability and the macroeconomic data indicating multiple weaknesses. They are related to topics that are already well-known as the poor infrastructure, poor education and a problematic medical system, as well as topics that have become acute lately,” said the CDR representatives.
During the talks, the representatives of the Coalition for the Development of Romania have asked the Romanian Government to take concrete actions to correct the policies in all these essential fields for a strong economic development.
„We have important resources within the Coalition that we want to put at the disposal of the Government and the Parliament. It is, first and foremost, about recognized experts in various fields of activity who can contribute with their expertise in developing coherent public policies. Moreover, we can provide the Government with technical expertise to break out of the current paradigm of the lack of coherence and predictability. Our plan for Romania’s economic revival is a document with targeted, very technical proposals, not at all political, which we are ready to share with the current Government. We are willing to work together with the Government in 2018 to create stability,” said the CDR co-ordinators.
Another area where the Coalition offered its support consisting of targeted solutions developed in the shortest time possible is the fight against tax evasion by dismantling undeclared work.
Also, the Coalition, together with the business community, expresses its desire to maintain the dialogue with the Romanian Government on the main directions of the economic and fiscal policy and calls for decisional transparency and predictability in drafting public policies.
Through the 13 working groups, the Coalition will constantly come forward with targeted technical solutions for maintaining the competitiveness in 2018 by measures aimed at stimulating the business environment and mobilizing the valuable human resources that Romania has.
