Poor roads drive away German investors

The regrettable condition of Romania”s infrastructure is one of the obstacles stopping German investors from coming to this country, says the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bucharest, Wilfried Gruber, in an interview for ZIARUL FINANCIAR.

The regrettable condition of Romania”s infrastructure is one of the obstacles stopping German investors from coming to this country, says the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bucharest, Wilfried Gruber, in an interview for ZF.

The German official also draws attention to Romania”s trade deficit level, which he says could be dangerous in the future. “Romania”s trade balance, which is in deficit, has to be regarded as a warning signal. With its upcoming EU accession, Romania needs to understand it can no longer go on like this. The growth of the trade deficit is not sustainable,” Gruber says. The Ambassador”s warning comes after the Romania”s debt to Germany in terms of two-way trade stood at 1.5 billion euros last year. Gruber, however, says that given EU accession, Germany wants to have a strong partner in Romania and points out Romania”s weaknesses that present obstacles for German investors. First of all, he cites inadequate infrastructure – roads and railways. Then institutional issues come into play, such as legislative instability, the lack of transparency on the part of the administration, as well as customs and financial administration-related issues. “Of course it is also about corruption,” stated Gruber, who says that corruption and the reform of the judicial system are the main concerns the Union European has about Romania.

Romania also has advantages, but unfortunately, the first of them remains the cheap labour. Geographical proximity to the European economic space will continue to be an important trump card in the future. As for the training of the Romanian workforce, the Ambassador notes, “This mainly concerns the general training level, but it should accordingly be complemented by certain professional knowledge.” He believes that the Romanian Government should make more efforts in this regard to make Romania more attractive to foreign investors.

Gruber also points out that after integration, one of the most affected sectors will be the food industry, where many producers are not compliant with the community hygiene norms. “The report of the European Commission has already issued a warning, and stated that Romanian companies will need to make efforts towards compliance with sanitary and veterinary norms.”

Germany has been Romania”s most important commercial partner for many years, second only to Italy, with 14% of Romanian trade being carried out with Europe”s most powerful economy. The Ambassador notes the “dynamic development” of bilateral trade, which increased by approximately 20% in 2005, mainly in terms of Romanian imports from Germany. In absolute figures, however, the level of trade is not impressive, especially for Germany, the main global exporter, and Gruber expresses hope that the trend of the last few years will maintain. “In this respect, our ambition knows no bounds,” the Ambassador stated. mihnea.anastasiu@zf.ro