Romania: A promising market and a growing economy
Romania has the second largest market in Central and Eastern Europe after Poland. With a population of 22 million inhabitants, it is the 7th largest population in Europe and the 8th largest based on purchasing power parity. Romania has been a member of NATO since 2004 and of the European Union since January 2007. Since its inclusion to the EU, it has adapted its legal framework to incorporate EU-compatible legislation. Most importantly Romania has worked hard to become a thriving market economy and has heavily promoted investment1.
55% of the population is concentrated in urban centers and in addition to its capital, Bucharest, there are 9 moderately sized cities with over 200,000 inhabitants. 80% of the population are under 60 and over 40% are of working age. Most notably, the average salary is one of the lowest in Europe.
The GDP of Romania is based mainly on services (55.2%), industry (34.7%) and agriculture (10.1%) by a population distributed equally amongst the three sectors.
From 2000 to 2008, Romania experienced the strongest growth in its economy compared to any member state after joining the EU. The main beneficiaries of this growth were foreign investors. After a period of slowed growth due to the international financial crisis, the FDI in Romania (foreign direct investment) is again on the rise2.
U.S. direct investment in Romania was valued at over $90M as of September 2011. A total of 2.1% of Romania's total FDI was composed of investments coming from the United States, although this figure could be higher as it is likely that US companies have also invested through their subsidiaries in Europe.(1)
LPG can help investors by providing them with an in-depth market study of the sector of interest in this promising Eastern European market.