Romania's economy digital component is over 20 pct of GDP (online stores' assoc)

The digital economy is an important component in Romania's economy, being estimated at over 20 pct of the Gross Domestic Product, Oleg Roibu, vice-president of the Romanian Association of Online Stores (ARMO), said on Wednesday at a specialized conference.

"We are convinced that the digital economy and the role that the digital transition will have in the accelerated development of Romania represent extremely complex themes that require a constant dialogue and consolidation between the public environment and the representatives of the private sector. ARMO represents today the voice of an entire electronic marketing ecosystem and which, in recent years, have come to generate a business figure of 6 billion euros, at national level. We have to say that, in the last 4-5 years, the Romanian electronic trade has had the largest growth in the entire European Union. Digital technologies have the ability to use any systems implemented and that is why we are seeing that there is more and more talk about the digital economy in general. At the moment, the digital economy is an important component in the Romanian economy estimated at 16 pct of GDP at the level of 2014... Given the context that we have all gone through, somehow of forced digitization, this digital component of the economy I think exceeded 20 pct of GDP, positioning itself, in our opinion, on a strategic vertical of the Romanian economic growth, in the next years," said Roibu.

He added that DESI (Digital Economy and Society Index) can be seen as a road map for the future development of the country.

"The future prospects of the digital economy are extremely positive and it is up to us to maximize the potential the digital transition can generate in our society. This means to act intelligently and in a coordinated manner, to succeed in dialogue, to collaborate and to build a common objective - to re-establish the Romanian economy on a new, solid foundation, based on modern technologies and the accelerated growth in the use of these technologies. Digital Economy and Society Index - DESI can be seen as a road map in the future development of our country. It is gratifying that PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) has an important digital component," the ARMO representative stressed.

The Romanian Association of Online Shops organized, on Wednesday, at the Palace of Parliament, the conference dubbed "The economy of the future: how can we accelerate the digital transition of Romania?".