Entrepreneurship in Romania — Not What You Thought
If you are an avid reader of my material, you probably know by now that Romania is my home country and that I write quite a lot about it. Although I conduct business globally, I still prefer to base myself and most of my companies in my homeland. The main reason for that, I guess, is patriotism, but there are also plenty of advantages for investors like me in this beautiful nation. I will try to mention some of them here.
Taxation
Taxes in Romania are low, much lower than in western Europe. This includes profit taxes, revenue taxes, income taxes and others. This is meant to draw smaller enterprises, with smaller turnovers and smaller staff, to base themselves here. Just the profit tax alone, being 25% lower than the average in the European Union, is an excellent reason to consider this move.
Manpower
Due to the mean and median salaries in Romania being lower relative to other EU member nations, it is cheaper to hire employees in Romania while giving them good working conditions. Also, today’s younger working force is very tech-savvy, and the majority of them know at least one more language other than their mother tongue.
Economic recovery
COVID-19 struck Romania severely, but not as bad as most other European nations. That, along with prudent measures taken by the government, is why the country’s march to economic recovery is faster. That’s not all, though, because Romania is also supposed to enjoy an 80 billion Euro grant from the EU Resilience Fund. A large portion of that money is already allocated to encouraging entrepreneurship.
European Union benefits
Romania’s membership in the EU is an excellent benefit for any company settling there since these companies enjoy the status of being ‘EU-registered’. Other than that, by joining the EU, Romania has set its standards according to it, in terms of business transparency, digitalization, fiscal stability and more. This process may take a while, but Romania is definitely on the right path.
Broadband and internet speed
This may come as a surprise to you, but in the race to a fast and stable internet connection, Romania is leaving most other European nations in the dust, being the country with the seventh-fastest internet connection in the world. 5G infrastructure is also widespread in Romania, and the plan is to have 99% of the population benefiting from it by 2025. If you need a better understanding of the importance of fast internet, working from home during the year of the pandemic serves as a perfect example.
Red tape
Romania doesn’t have the best history with bureaucracy, but I can tell you that lately, there is a lot of improvement in that field. Oddly enough, it is the COVID-19 and its restrictions that had given bureaucracy a blow. Today, it is much easier for smaller businesses and enterprises to interact with governmental bodies and public and private financial ones. The digital era has reached even the darkest corners of outdated offices in Romania, and we have only to benefit from that.
City life
I may be biased a bit when I say it, but Romanian cities are among the friendliest in the world for expats. Rent is relatively cheap; municipal services are at a high standard, living costs are undoubtedly bearable, etc. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration, also, to say that the cultural life in Bucharest, Cluj, Timisoara, and the rest of Romania’s metropolitan areas is superior. Romania has been acclaimed by many for its cuisine and nightlife, and while the COVID-19 has put all of that on hold for a while, things are starting to return to normal in that sense.
Not all is perfect
Having said all of this, I cannot deny that Romania, as an entrepreneurial venue, has its downsides. Fundraising in Romania, for example, is still more problematic than in other places. But in today’s global reality, that can easily be overcome, so I would say that the advantages Romania presents undoubtedly outweigh its disadvantages.
