Romania expects 2bn-euro investments by 2012

Foreign investors involved in the automotive industry, food production and construction materials have committed to projects worth two billion euros by 2012, and plan to hire 16,000 people, according to a ZF analysis, which only considered projects worth over 20 million euros. Foreign direct investment conducted in the first five months of the year amounted to 4.11 billion euros, double the figure during the same time last year, whilst other countries in the region, which includes Bulgaria, attracted a smaller volume of investments compared with last year. The biggest investments announced by individual companies in Romania target the automotive sector, where Renault and Ford are each conducting investments worth almost 700 million euros in plants in Titu, Pitesti, and Craiova, respectively.