The European Business Women’s Employers’ Association – PEFA launches the regional dialogue in Craiova, within the Business Outlook 2026 – Investment and Sustainable Development conference, an event that will take place on May 7, 2026, starting at 10:00 a.m., at the National Museum of Art in Craiova. The conference is organized in partnership with the City Hall of Craiova and with the support of the National Museum of Art Craiova and represents the second event of the series of regional dialogues Business Outlook 2026, launched by PEFA with the aim of connecting the entrepreneurial energies of deep Romania with the national economic policy agenda.

Craiova is not just a geographical landmark — it is a dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem, with a solid industrial tradition and an increasingly recognized innovation potential at European level. It is also a model of collaboration between the public and private sectors, and this conference is precisely the space where this collaboration can generate ideas, solutions and concrete commitments.

“Craiova is in full transformation and we will not slow down this pace. We are no longer talking about a city that expects investments, but about a city that generates them. Business Outlook 2026 comes at exactly the moment when there is a need for quick decisions, solid partnerships and projects that produce real effects in the economy, not just in speeches. Investments reach where there is vision and seriousness, and Craiova offers both. As it has been until now, the Craiova City Hall keeps its doors open for all those who want to build here,” said Mrs. Lia Olguta Vasilescu, Mayor of Craiova.

Andreea Negru, President – European Business Women’s Employers’ Association PEFA said: “Business Outlook 2026 is not an ordinary conference – it is a living platform, built on the conviction that good economic decisions are made with the people in the territory, not just about them. Craiova is a city that knows what it means to reinvent and grow. We are honored to be with the City Hall of Craiova and the National Museum of Art, two partners who understand that the cultural space can also be a space for economic dialogue. We want this meeting to generate not only valuable debates, but also real commitments to the future of the region.”

For her part, PEFA First Vice-President Lorena Stoian said: “Each stage of the Business Outlook 2026 series brings to the fore Romania’s economic realities — with its potential, challenges and people. In Craiova, we will discuss investments, sustainability and what it means to build a competitive business environment in a region with a European vocation. The Entrepreneurship and Female Leadership Index 2026, which we will disseminate at the conference, comes to put concrete data where until now there were only perceptions. We know that change starts from dialogue — and we have this dialogue in Craiova.”

The event will be opened by representatives of the central and local authorities, together with the PEFA management: the Mayor of Craiova, Lia Olguta Vasilescu, representatives of the state’s law enforcement institutions, financial and banking institutions and the business environment. During the event, the data from the Female Entrepreneurship

and Leadership Index 2026 — the first tool for systematically measuring women’s participation in the Romanian economy — will be publicly disseminated.