Foreign investment up before accession

Foreign investment will surely soar two or three years before Romania’s accession to the European Union, though the exact time of integration will not be known any sooner than late next year, Cristian Popa, National Bank of Romania vice-governor said in Dubrovnik. “By late next year we will know exactly if 2007 is the accession date and whether a larger group of countries besides Romania and Bulgaria is slated for accession. As things stand now, Romania will get a low investment risk grade in 2005,” Popa said during the “SE Europe, the last European growth frontier” conference organised by Euromoney. The NBR vice-governor says foreign investments have climbed 20% in the first eight months of the year, a trend that has also been witnessed by every country in the region not included in the first wave of enlargement. ZF