Business environment requests intensifying dialogue with Gov't

The business environment of Romania requests the Government resume dialogue in regards to decisions with economic and social impact, showing that, although investors and authorities should collaborate to increase the welfare of citizens, this dialogue has been lacking in the past years, stated, on Thursday, the representatives of the Coalition for Romania's Development (CDR), in a press conference. 

They presented the measures the investors are proposing to the Government for a sustainable economy and reaching convergence with the EU. 

"We are glad that the first stage of this electoral cycle is over, the electoral campaign, we know who the President of Romania is, we have a new Government too, which has made us, the Coalition for Romania's Development, an organization with wide representation, with an executive committee that covers eight of the most prestigious organizations in Romania, representing both Romanian, as well as foreign investors, to express our availability to dialogue with the new Government on central and important topics for the business environment, but also for the Romanian society," said Ionut Simion, chairman of AmCham Romania and a member of the CDR. 

Thus, one of the priorities is the predictability in relation to the business environment, which includes using emergency ordinances only for real emergencies, the tax regime should be clear and predictable, and the authorities should increase the degree of transparency in decision-making. 

The second set of priority measures refers to reducing the imbalances in the labor market, with emphasis being placed on reducing emigration and encouraging the diaspora to return to the country, while education needs to be in sync with the needs of the business environment. 

Furthermore, investors request the simplification of the interactions with the state through the modernization of the National Tax Administration Agency (ANAF), ensuring a real social dialogue relevant for the business environment and the amending of the Fiscal Code, in the sense of its simplification. 

There is need, at the same time, to improve the public infrastructure in transport, education and healthcare, and in what regards anchoring Romania in the EU, the investors request strict respect for European rules, the active contribution to the development of the EU and the increase of the absorption of EU funds. 

"We are glad that we have a new Government, because we did not have a very close dialogue with the old Government and that is why we express, on this occasion, our availability to collaborate and dialogue with the Government," Simion said. 

In his turn, Dragos Atanasiu, the chairman of the Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce and a member in the CDR, showed that Romania has potential, but, unfortunately, the business environment lost faith in the authorities. 

"In the past years, the dialogue with the Government has been at a very low level, both from a quantitative point of view, as well as from a qualitative point of view, thus an improvement does not seem to be hard to achieve," Anastasiu added.