Exclusive    Italian Ambassador in Romania: The ongoing challenge for Romania is two-fold

2012-05-08 13:22:15

After the economic turmoil of 2008-2009, many of the political choices made by the both countries’ Governments followed the pattern of the common European response to the crisis, according to a statement of  the Italian Ambassador in Romania, Mario Cospito (photo), for The Diplomat-Bucharest.  “The challenge for Romania is two-fold. On a domestic ground, I believe that Romania’s main priority will be to carry on with the reform agenda agreed with the international financial institutions. But Romania will have to implement this program with an eye to the future: only by engaging in a new set of EU measures that give priority to economic growth and  job creation, we will be able to overcome the economic crisis and build opportunities, “ the Ambassador stated. Currently, according to official data, Italy is the first investor country in Romania by number of registered companies (almost 31.000) and by number of employees, amounting to 800.000.According to data of Italian Institute for Foreign Trade, over the past three years FDI in Romania, generally speaking, dropped due to the economic crisis and the lack of liquidity. In particular, in 2011, the value of FDI was EUR 1.917 billion, showing a decrease of 13,6 percent compared to 2010. With regard to Italian investment in Romania its stock value was of EUR 1,385 billion at the end of  2011.