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Green energy and carbon storage capacity give Romania unique chance to attract foreign investments
Green energy and carbon storage capacity give Romania a unique chance to attract foreign investment or capital, including domestic, representing a competitive advantage with other economies in Europe and the world, the minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Stefan-Radu Oprea, said last week.
"I will say first of all what I think will happen to Romania's economy, which is the target we have: a green economy, an economy with energy produced from green sources that create opportunities. That was the industrial history of Romania, we are a country where we have exploited oil and gas. The first refinery in the world, 1857, was established near Ploiesti. That means we have a lot of wells and carbon storage capacity. These two things together: green energy, carbon storage capacity, give Romania a unique chance to attract foreign investment or capital, including domestic - a unique circumstance in the European landscape, and probably become a competitive advantage over the rest of the world's economies. It is something I said in Berlin, it is one thing I say to American companies, one thing I say to French companies," said Stefan-Radu Oprea, at the conference "Productive Romania in the new economic paradigm: problems, financing development, entering the future," organized by the Curs de Guvernare publication.
He emphasized that there are companies that show their interest in being in Romania, especially those that the shareholders check "at the third, fourth supplier, if their behavior is really green, in terms of energy".
"We have a very big chance and, from this perspective, I am not so pessimistic about the future of the Romanian economy, especially since, for example, The Economist said that Romania will have the highest economic growth in Europe in the coming years. If we look at statistical figures, we will see that things are not quite as bad as we are used to talking about the Romanian economy," Radu Oprea also said.
The official emphasized that in Romania a record high employment rate has been reached, which shows absorption capacity and an effervescence in the economy.
On the other hand, the minister specified that we are in a geopolitical situation, in a Europe where industrial activity is decreasing.
"We look at Germany and we look at it with some concern. However, Romania has growth forecast on several possible pillars. We are in a full process of transformation of energy sources. Green energy will be one of the basic pillars of the development of the economy. More than that, precisely on this subject, we are in discussions with companies that want to invest in Romania to see if Romania can be involved in the technological transfer, industrial cooperation part in the new large energy projects, so as to produce in Romania components of the new small modular reactors or other energy components," the minister added.