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Brummell: Transparent and efficient public purchases- strategic partnership for economic growth
2016 is a crucial year for Romania for the reform of public purchases and transparent and efficient public purchases are a strategic priority for economic growth, said Paul Brummell, the British ambassador to Bucharest at a debate on Romania’s development strategy organized at BNR headquarters on Tuesday.
He added that they are essential for the functioning of the internal European market.
Brummell spoke about the reform of public services, showing that it supposed a high degree of empathy with the citizens’ and companies’ needs. The British diplomat explained that people need an open government in order to get involved.
On the other hand, Brummell pointed out the importance of services, considering that they were essential for Romania’s development within EU.
Industry is, by tradition, the main export source for Romania, but the service sector also has a huge development potential. At present, services represent only 50% of the country’s GDP. A single service market would lead to the disappearance of unjustified barriers for business, Romanian businesses included, and could offer access to a more varied market, the diplomat added.
He showed that the promise of the Bucharest government to increase law predictability by reducing the number of emergency orders was good news for his country.
The British have backed for years the Romanian authorities’ efforts to improve business by means of the fight against corruption and the increase of transparency in the public sector. The new Civil Code and Civil Procedure Code as well as the continuous revision activity on the National Strategy against Corruption facilitate it. It was good news that the government allowed to increase the predictability of laws by reducing the number of emergency orders. Simplifying rules and regulations as well as the opening towards what the private sector has to say will help economy. In a broader sense, potential foreign partners should be able to operate in a transparent, clear and predictable investment climate in order to attract foreign investments while contracts should be observed and corruption eliminated, Brummell pointed out.