As industrial parks and areas in western Romania become saturated, foreign investors have begun to identify undiscovered areas and focus their operations in newly created locations with development potential, such as Oltenia.
The Romanian Agency for Foreign Investments (ARIS) is currently handling projects worth above 5bn euros, mostly for car part production.
"Cluj is the best prepared from an administrative point of view and we could send any investor there, but there's not much space left. Now, interest runs high in Oradea, Beius, and Calarasi has attracted around 200m euros. We're supporting Craiova and southern Romania, but we're also trying to send investors to Moldova," stated Monica Barbuletiu, ARIS vice-president.
The biggest investment in Cluj was finalised by Nokia Finnish mobile phone producer, which will be followed by producer of electrical engines Emerson, which is set to build five plants in Tetarom II industrial park in the wake of 125m-euro investments.
According to Barbuletiu, the 5bn-euro projects are mainly investments started in the past, which are about to be finalised or expanded, but there are also some new projects, attracted this year. "As examples, we have Pirelli, Renault, Continental and Draxlmaier, which now wants to expand to Brasov," she says.
"We're making assessments and we are in contact with many city halls, but not all of them know how to negotiate with an investor (...)," said Barbuletiu. So far, western areas have boasted the highest investment retention degree, where companies like Continental, SEWS, Takata-Petri and Draxlmaier operate, followed by southern areas, with the Mioveni industrial park and the area around Ploiesti, where Michelin, Yazaki and Timken factories operate.
The around 90 projects the agency is now assisting with a cumulated value of 5bn euros, will generat
