RSS
Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry: New fiscal measures endanger Romania as investment location
The new fiscal measures endanger Romania as an investment location, according to a press release of the Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK Romania), issued on Tuesday by the German Embassy in Bucharest.
"With great concern we have learnt that the amendments to the Fiscal Code, announced by the Government, have been published in the Official Gazette and are due to take effect at the beginning of 2018. The Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK Romania), in its capacity as the official representation office of the German economy in Romania and the largest economic association representing the interests of some 600 member companies, wants to emphasize once again the dangers of the adoption of these measures in the current form," the press release reads.
AHK Romania states that it has repeatedly pointed out that predictability, stability, transparency and the rule of law are particularly important to maintain confidence in Romania as an investment location.
"The way in which the new tax measures have been communicated instill a profound sense of insecurity among both German companies and their employees. Thus, companies are afraid of extra costs, especially for companies operating in the IT field, but there are also uncertainties about the planning and implementation of future tax policies. In addition, for the business milieu, the usefulness of these measures is unclear, given the need to adjust costs," the release reads.
At the same time, the German companies in Romania opine that the measures to be applied in such a short time, their effects and the reduction of fiscal predictability could negatively influence, in the medium and long term, both the investment climate and the competitiveness of the country and of the companies.
"Some 7,500 German companies and with German capital respectively, are active in Romania, most of them in Bucharest and in the counties of Timis, Sibiu, Brasov and Cluj. These have contributed decisively to the creation and ensuring jobs in Romania in recent years — according to our estimates, these companies have over 250,000 employees," the release reads.
"German investments in Romania amount to over 9.2 billion euros (at end-2016). Bilateral economic relations continued to grow strongly in the first half of this year. The exports to Germany in the first six months of the year were worth 7.2 billion euros (+18.2pct over the same period of last year) and the imports increased to 7.3 billion euros (+7.9pct), "the release informs.
"It is necessary for the Romanian authorities and decision-makers to take the necessary measures for the development of vocational education, because the German business environment suffers a great deal because of the lack of workforce (...) AHK Romania therefore is calling on the Government to increase considerably the investments in key-areas such as education and infrastructure and to intensify the modernization of the administration," the press release also reads.