It is worth taking steps to expand Romanian business into regional states and even into Europe, if the risks involved are carefully considered. This was the conclusion of the seminar -"Economy's biggest players. What chance does Romanian capital stand in the EU? "- organised by ZIARUL FINANCIAR in partnership with Banca Comerciala Romana, Petrom and Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen (NNDKP) law firm. The seminar brought together Romanian market leaders, according to data available in Romania's Business Yearbook, published by ZF.

"Many Romanian businesses have reached a certain level of sophistication, which now allows them to enter the European Union market. Romanian capital has the opportunity to hatch. The challenge, however, will be the extraordinary levels of competition in the EU," says Manuela Nestor, managing partner of NNDKP, the leader of the business law market.

She believes there are many opportunities for Romanian-held companies in neighbouring regional countries, as a first step towards European expansion. "Serbia, Macedonia, Albania and the former Yugoslavian states are now providing all the opportunities that existed in Romania in '93-'96. These countries are only beginning to privatise, almost their entire industry is up for sale," Manuela Nestor explained.

Beyond the trend of expansion into neighbouring countries, Romanian companies are also facing increasingly fiercer competition from foreign rivals on the domestic market. "The Romanian market remains an extremely attractive environment for foreign investments, which will seek to take advantage of the good risk/benefit ratio," says Nicolae Danila, chief executive of BCR, the largest bank on the market.

Danila believes that the domestic consumption market has not been sufficiently penetrated yet and offers a significant growth potential, which could be capitalised o