German investors weigh up business prospects

At a time of great economic turmoil in Europe, German investors continue to find good business opportunities in Romania in spite of its poor transport infrastructure, bureaucracy and high corruption level. With investments of around 4.5 billion Euro and over 18,000 companies registered here, Germany is Romania’s largest trading partner. In the first six months of 2011, Romania’s exports to Germany amounted to nearly 4.1 billion Euro, while its imports from Germany stood at some 4.4 billion Euro.
In this context, business leaders, investors, experts and professionals representing German companies and joint ventures got together to discuss the latest economic developments and trends at Business Arena’s annual Germany – Romania Roundtable Business Conference and Awards 2011, organized together with Net Worth Advisory and in partnership with Jacobi & Partner Romania, Avis Romania, Ramada Plaza and Corporate Baskets.
Looking at the ways in which the economic slowdown has affected the labor market, Razvan Ilie, the Country Manager of Jacobi & Partner Romania, pointed out that recruiting agencies have a much tougher job in finding the right candidates, as fewer people are inclined to change their jobs these days. “The crisis has affected the labor market in two ways. On the one hand, companies are reluctant to hire new professionals and, on the other hand, fewer people are ready to change their jobs.” Ilie added: “Before 2008 many people in the industry used to would talk about a certain mercenary approach, as many professionals would jump from one position to another for a salary increase. This is no longer valid today.” The Jacobi & Partner Romania official also said that in the current economic conditions, newly hired people were much less likely to want to change jobs again soon and they tended to stay longer with the company.
Focusing on Romania’s development potential, Jan Schell, General Manager, Boehringer Ingelheim Romania, expressed his confidence in the local opportunities. “The financial crisis has hit businesses in all countries, and no one can tell when it is going to end. But I am quite sure that there is so much room for improvement. Whether it is happening next year, the year after that, or in three years’ time, it doesn’t matter so much. There will be growth and there will be a lot of improvement in Romania,” said Schell. He added that compared to Germany, where the welfare system is very strong, people in Romania are more motivated to work hard. “To some extent it is a positive thing that people don’t have that double or triple security net in Romania. Therefore people are still interested in working and changing something, and in my experience so far that has been a good recipe for growth and positive change.”