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AmCham Launches PRIORITIES FOR ROMANIA, 2016
The American Chamber of Commerce in Romania (AmCham Romania) launches the 2016 edition of the Priorities for Romania, to encourage the focus of the public debate especially in election years on strategic themes for the Romanian economy and society at large, as well as to introduce AmCham’s vision regarding the priorities of the 2016 – 2020 legislative and executive mandate.
Compared to the previous elections, we notice an increased presence of economy related topics in the elections agenda and we hope for the attention of the candidates to remain the same after the elections. AmCham’s recommendations provide a clear picture of the business community priorities with regard to strategic sectors that require both immediate and midterm actions. Hopefully many of the recommendations set forth by the Priorities for Romania will eventually be incorporated by the political parties in their platforms in order to reach the common goal of increasing Romania’s economic competitiveness, stated Ionut Simion, AmCham Romania’s President.
Priorities for Romania reiterates the need for grounding political offers taking into account the global changes that become more difficult to anticipate, Romania’s opportunities to rise up as a regional leader within the international structures it belongs to, as well as the need to transfer the country’s economic performance of the recent years to the level of the population’s well-being, while adopting measures to increase competitiveness along with economic growth.
AmCham emphasizes the main landmarks of the 2016-2020 mandate as being Romania’s EU Council Presidency between January-June 2019, a complex exercise, characterized by a multi-faceted responsibility in a difficult period for the European Union’s existence, and internally, defining the strategic country positioning project, meant to build coherence in the public policies, investment allocation end an efficient use of all types of resources.
From an economic perspective, a mid term development requires building on the main advantages that facilitated Romania’s economic growth so far, that is the capitalization of sectors with high competitive potential, the relatively low level of public debt, the systematic investments in human capital, the energy independence and security.
Based on the favorable contexts above as well as the analysis conducted by AmCham Romania on the elaboration of the Romania Competitiveness Report 2016, we recommend immediate actions in five essential areas for future economic growth:
I. Human Capital, through measures aimed at reversing the demographic trend, retaining the skilled labor force in the local market, ensuring continuity in the education system reform and investments, increasing the budgetary allocation for health jointly with efforts to increase system efficiency and access to quality medical services.
II. Modern Infrastructure needed to increase efficiency in agriculture through a modern irrigation system, using the latest technologies, positioning Romania on the map of global digital economy and implementing and financing the transportation Master Plan without further delays.
III. Attracting Capital Inflows through strategic public investments and ensuring a favorable framework for new businesses, developing a strong and liquid capital market, as an alternative financing source and attracting new FDI.
IV. Sustainable development and environment protection by way of Maximizing the efficiency in managing Romania’s wealth of natural resources, developing Tourism due to its potential to the overall economic growth, protecting the forests and providing a sustainable framework for waste management.
V. Rule of Law and Law Enforcement, by consolidating integrity in the public and private sector, by continuing the anti-corruption efforts, implementing ethics standards, reducing bureaucracy and ensuring an effective justice.
On this occasion, AmCham reiterates the need for a cross party alignment of all relevant stakeholders to define and adopt a multigenerational country project, a process for Romania’s transformation by involving the society at large in an exercise that requires confidence in the country’s potential to define its role and place in Europe and globally.(Source: AmCham Romania)