Foreign Investors Council, vision for the 2024-2025 mandate

The Board of Directors of the Foreign Investors Council (FIC) elected in June the management team of the organization for the 2024-2025 mandate:

• Daniel Anghel, Tax and Legal Services Leader PwC Romania, PwC Global Tax Policy Board Member, received a new mandate as president;
• Ramona Jurubita,, Country Managing Partner KPMG Romania, vice president
• Catalin Radu, General Manager BMS Romania, vice president;
• Alexandru Lupea, Partner, Executive Board Member EY Romania, as treasurer.

 “I would like to thank my colleagues for their confidence in my ability to continue as president of the FIC in a year that is set to present a number of challenges. These include parliamentary and presidential elections this autumn, as well as a new government programme from 2025. In order to support the authorities, we analyzed the key areas for the economy and prepared a set of recommendations for medium and long-term measures for the sustainable development of Romania, and also the correlations with the proposals of the World Bank, IMF, European Commission, OECD and with the milestones of PNRR, in order to have a complete perspective of the strategic directions that Romania needs to analyze, to prioritize, implement and adjust according to the characteristics of our country. Romania is currently in a favorable macroeconomic and geopolitical context, with numerous opportunities for growth. However, there are also potential risks, such as the state of public finances. Therefore, long-term development will not be able to rely only on public sources but will significantly depend on attracting new foreign direct investments and maintaining and stimulating those already present in Romania. The FIC remains a constant partner in consultations with the authorities to identify medium and long-term, viable, balanced, sustainable measures for the country’s economy” said Daniel Anghel, president of FIC.

 „Foreign direct investments have a significant contribution to the country’s development, both in terms of technological advancement and the know-how they bring to the production and service chains in which they are present. In addition, they also contribute to the development and consolidation of domestic capital. A friendly investment climate is based on prior consultation with the business environment, on the analysis of the impact of public policies in the medium and long term, and on a clear, fair, and predictable legislative framework. Also, EU membership, NATO, the evolution of the Schengen Area, and the prospects for joining the OECD represent important competitive advantages for Romania. FIC prepared a comparative analysis of the economic reports published by the OECD for Romania in 2022 and 2024 in order to identify recurrent themes and new themes, to assess the OECD perception of the progress made by Romania in terms of the accession process, but also in terms of the evolution of the economy and society, namely to identify the key topics where Romania is expected to focus its actions towards supporting the accession process and a healthy and sustainable development of the economy and society as a whole.”, mentioned Ramona Jurubita, vice president of FIC.

“Investments in healthcare are investments in the future. Romania is a developed country whose citizens’ incomes are increasing, based on the results of solidarity and a fair economy, capable of producing more and better paid jobs, in which the workforce produces added value and has the ability to innovate. In such a country the population must be healthy and there must be an efficient, accessible and resilient health system. Health, as the foundation of human capital, is essential for innovation, productivity and, therefore, for Romania’s sustainable economic growth. Recognizing this interdependence underscores the need for strategic investments in the health system. FIC has identified several possible directions for strengthening the health system in Romania that we want to discuss together with all stakeholders in order to outline a common vision that will reposition the human resource and healthcare at the heart of long-term strategies for Romania.”, said Catalin Radu, vice president of FIC.

FIC Board Members will continue their commitment to promoting sustainable investments and policies as the basis for economic growth, especially in a tense budgetary context. Large companies continue to invest in Romania, the flow of foreign direct investment in the first quarter of 2024 is 3.2 billion euros (compared to 2.4 billion euros in January-April 2023) according to the latest published data by BNR, thus registering an increase of 800 million euros compared to the same period in 2023.

In order to stimulate this positive trend, the private sector needs predictability, stability, clarity and transparency of the legislative framework, coherence of public policies, and alignment with international practices, all of these leading to the acceleration of the process of economic convergence of Romania with the developed countries of the EU.

FIC member companies have been registered and paying taxes in Romania for more than 25 years. Also, most of the investments made started at the end of the 1990s, which indicates the willingness to invest in Romania on a long-term basis. The turnover of FIC member companies (115 companies) represented approximately 25% of nominal GDP in 2022. In the same year, the investments of FIC companies were over 10 billion RON, representing 25% of capital expenditures according to the execution of the consolidated budget. Based on a survey of taxes paid by members, by extrapolation and controlling a set of variables (including turnover, the number of employees and profit tax), as well as attributes related to the object of activity, the contribution of all FIC member companies to the consolidated general budget was estimated at 84 billion RON, which represents 20% of the current revenues collected by the state in 2022. More details can be accessed at the following link: Fees and taxes paid by FIC member companies and their employees in Romania.