Romania - general data

The Romanian State

Nation: Romania

Capital city: Bucharest

Geographic position: in the south-east of Central Europe. Neighbours: Ukraine (N), the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, and the Black Sea (E), Bulgaria (S), Serbia (SW), and Hungary (W).

Population: ca. 21,700,000. Outside the country's borders there are large Romanian communities.

Official language: Romanian (a neo-Latin language of the Romance languages family)

Ethnic structure: Romanians – 89.5%; Hungarians (including Szecklers) – 6.5%; other ethnic groups – 4%

Religion: Eastern Orthodox - 86.7%; Roman-Catholic - 4.7%; Protestant - 3.2%, etc.

Administrative organization: 41 counties, plus Bucharest, the capital city (population ca. 2,200,000). There are 263 cities and towns, of which 80 municipalities, and 2 685 communes with over 13 285 villages.

Climate: temperate-continental, four seasons

Features: mountains (31% of area), hills and plateaus (33%), plains (36%), Danube Delta

Romania is a sovereign and independent, unitary and indivisible nation state;

Form of government: republic;

Romania is a democratic and social state ruled by the law;

The state is organized according to the principle of separation and balance of the powers – the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary – in the framework of constitutional democracy, guaranteed by political pluralism.

The President of Romania represents the Romanian state and guarantees the national independence, unity and territorial integrity of the country (5-year term). Since December 2004 Traian Băsescu has been President of Romania (re-elected on Dec. 6, 2009 for a new term of office).

The Legislative: The Parliament of Romania (4-year term) has two houses: the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.

The Executive: The Government of Romania, headed by the Prime Minister, entrusted by the President of Romania with forming the Cabinet and with the Governance Program endorsed by Parliament by a vote of confidence.

The Judiciary: independence guaranteed by the Superior Council of the Magistracy; judges are irremovable.

Romania is a member of NATO (since 2004) and of the European Union (since January 1, 2007).

The national symbols

The Flag  of Romania

The National Coat of Arms 

State heraldic symbols existed as far back as the dawn of the Middle Ages, gradually evolving towards a representative, synthetic coat of arms.

The flag of Romania is a tricolor: red, yellow and blue. It has not undergone major changes in the course of history. Only the distribution of the colors (proportion and position) changed to a certain extent, being made equal after the Revolution of 1848 when, influenced by the French revolutionary spirit, many states in Europe adopted the standardized three-color banner as their national flag.

Geography of Romania

Romania is located in the geographic centre of Europe. It neighbours to the North on Ukraine, to the East on the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, and the Black Sea, to the South on Bulgaria, to the South-West on Serbia, and to the West on Hungary.

It stretches over 238,391 sq km, which ranks it 12th in Europe.

The administrative organization of Romania features 41 counties, and Bucharest, thecapital city. In the counties, the basic administrative units are the towns and communes (made of several villages). 

There are 263 cities and towns, of which 80 municipalities, and 2 685 communes with over 13 285 villages.

Economic profile

With a population of 22 million, Romania is Central Europe’s second largest market. Romania boasts several real advantages:

1. an excellent location at the crossroads of the main trade routes between western Europe and Asia, between South Europe (the Mediterranean) and northern Europe;

2. important river and sea navigation facilities  (Constanta is the biggest port on the Black Sea; proximity to the Danube – Rhine – Main canal connecting the Black Sea to the North Sea);

3. skilled labour, including highly trained specialists in the fields of technology, IT and engineering;

4. plenty of natural resources (oil, gas etc.) and vast fertile croplands;

5. a huge tourism potential;

6. diversified industrial structure;

7. legislation favouring foreign investment, based on free and nondiscriminatory access to the market.

Turism

The harmonious relief, featuring plains, hills and mountains, makes Romania ideal for tourism.

The Black Sea Coast – one of Europe’s widest seacoasts – features 15 resorts spreading over 50 km, each special in its own way, with fine beaches, hotels and health spas.

In the North of the seacoast lies the Danube Delta, the second largest delta in Europe. Unique on the continent, its beauty, the exquisite landscapes and the rich wildlife made UNESCO declare it a Biosphere Reserve. It is the newest and lowest territory of Romania with a relief permanently under change. The minimum altitude is –36 m on Chilia Arm, and the maximum +13 m on the dunes of the Letea Sand Bank. With an area of 2.590 km2, the Danube Delta includes both dry land and swamps with lakes and streams.

In the Romanian Carpathians, representing an important part of the Alpes-Carpathian-Himalayan chain, mountain resorts offer all it takes for memorable holidays.

The towns of Vatra Dornei and Borsa in the north, Slanicul Moldovei, Borsec and Sovata in the center, Poiana Brasov, Predeal, Sinaia, Busteni, Căciulata and Calimănesti in the center-south zone, Muntele Mic, Semenic and Băile Herculane in the south-west, Stâna de Vale in the north-west are only some of the holiday and health resorts in a widespread tourist network providing high-standard accommodation.

Thermal and mineral water springs in Romania represent the most important source of medicinal waters in Southeastern Europe, Romanian  spa resorts being well known for their beneficial effect in various conditions and diseases.

In NW Moldavia, the area known as Bukovina, is famous for the medieval Orthodox monasteries with interior and especially exterior frescoes (Arbore, Humor, Moldovita, Patrauti, Probota, Suceava, Sucevita, Voronet etc.). These masterpieces of art and architecture  are part of Europe’s artistic heritage and were listed in the UNESCO world heritage. A salient example is the Voronet Monastery,  famous notably for two important features of its painting: the specific hue of blue, “Voronet blue,” and the spectacular Doomsday scene displayed on the entire western wall, uninterrupted by any kind of holes, doors or windows.

The wooden churches from Maramures include eight monuments (Barsana, Budesti-Josani, Desesti, Ieud, Sisesti, Poienile Izei, Targu Lapus etc.), also listed in the UNESCO world heritage in 1999.

In Romania there are over 50 castles and citadels such as those of Rasnov, Bran, Hunedoara, Sinaia, Suceava, Neamt, Alba Iulia, Sighisoara - the most beautiful and complete medieval urban center in Romania, etc.; Dacian fortresses in Orastie Mountains (Blidaru, Capalna, Costesti, Luncani Piatra Rosie, Sarmizegetusa Regia – Grădistea de Munte); and palaces (ex: Cotroceni in Bucharest, Mogosoaia, the Culture Palace in Iasi). All these edifices are charged with a powerful history and culture, constituting an open history book for everybody.

The country’s heritage also comprises the cities with their monuments, museums, fairs and botanical gardens, the natural parks, and a large number of picturesque villages, where rural, ecological tourism has developed significantly, with accommodation in boarding houses nested in the middle of wondrous landscapes, and  traditional cuisine.

Economic relations

Israeli investment to Romania

Romanian - Israeli bilateral relations have already surpassed the hardship of times and in 2013 we will celebrate 65 years of uninterrupted diplomatic relations.

In 2011, the level of the bilateral commercial exchanges amounted to 362,1 million dollars of which the Romanian export reached 194,3 million dollars and the level ofRomanian imports from Israel amounted to 167,8 million dollars.

Israel ranks first among the Romanian partners in Africa and Middle East area (first place as import source and second place as the market for Romanian goods).

Currently, there are about 4000 Romanian companies established with Israeli participation, either coming directly from Israel or through branches and off-shore Israeli companies located in other countries. Most companies operate in industry (aircraft, foodstuff, textile, cosmetics, etc.) I.T. &C, agriculture, tourism, trade, banking, infrastructure, insurance or real estate, but there are still huge opportunities for profitable co-operation.

The total amount of Israeli projects in Romania reaches more than 2 billion dollars.

Reasons to invest in Romania

Our accession, together with Bulgaria’s, is accomplishing a major political project for the reunification of Europe, started a decade and a half ago. Our accession, which concludes the 5^th wave of enlargement, shows once again the fact that Europe has had the vision and the means to overcome the artificial separation brought by the end of the second world war and to expand the area of democracy, security and solidarity. 

Our strategic location, neighboring the Black Sea region, the Western Balkans and the former Soviet Union states, represents an important asset for the Union in the region, as well as our participation in various cooperation partnerships in the region. As a NATO member state, Romania has actively taken part in peace keeping operations led not only by the Alliance, but also by the Union.

From an economic point of view, we are bringing into the Union a dynamic economy with a constant growth rate, superior to the one registered in the EU’ s member states, a skilled labor force, a market of 22 million consumers, as well as important business opportunities in many fields.

Advantages - briefly -  in economic field 

• A large domestic market, the second largest in Central Europe

• An excellent location at the cross-roads of traditional commercial routes, ideally located for goods transiting between: Caspian Sea, Black Sea, Western Europe

• Available facilities offered by the Free Zones

• Facilities offered by the Romanian ports. Thus, Constanta Port can serve ships with a capacity of more than 100,000 tdw

• maritime and river navigation facilities , including oil and petrochemicals terminals on the Black Sea

• Facilities available in the Romanian shipyards, alongside of Danube river

• 6 international airports (Henry Coanda and Baneasa Airports in Bucharest and the airports in Timisoara, Cluj, Sibiu, Constanta)

• Interconnection of the national electricity transport network system to main European networks

• A national telecommunication network based on optical fibres and large capacity digital equipment integrated in the European optical cables thoroughfares and via satellite

• Networks of mobile telecommunications in GSM and NMT / LEMS systems

• The existence of 48 industrial parks

• A skilled work force, well trained particularly in technology and engineering

• A wide range of natural resources, including fertile agricultural land, coal, oil and gas and a significant tourist potential

• A liberal investment legislation, based on free, non-discriminatory access to markets and economic sectors

• The presence of branch offices and representatives of well-known international banks (City Bank, ABN-AMRO, ING Bank, Chemical Bank, Creditanstallt, Alpha Bank, Erste Bank etc.)

• Diplomatic relations with 176 countries

• Compatibility with “acquis communautaire” 

• Market Economy Status recognized by the US Government (March 2003)

• Functioning Market Economy recognized by the European Union (November 2003)

• Member of the UN and of numerous international organizations (associate member in EU, CEFTA, BSEC etc)

•  

On the series of advantages offered by Romania as destination for the foreign direct investments, we must also mention advantages in:

1. The taxation field:

2. Banking field

•  

• Law no. 571/2003 regarding the approval of the Fiscal Code, regulating in an unitary form the payment of the fees and taxes, also providing for certain fiscal facilities, thus responding to the requests of the businessmen community in Romania within which an important role is held by the Foreign Investors Council

•  

• The Government promotes a fiscal relaxation by introducing a new fiscal flat and personal income quota that is applied to the taxable revenues, of 16 %

•  

• The Foreign investors have the right to transfer the profit abroad; 

•  

• The investments made in Romania can't be nationalized, with the exception of public interest cases

•  

• Access of residents and non-residents to purchasing/selling of foreign currency is free for all the operations that may be performed in compliance with the provisions of the Regulation on foreign exchange regime

•  

• Convertibility of current transactions is ensured for both residents and non-residents

•  

• Purchasing/selling of foreign currency may be performed by forex market intermediaries alone

•  

• Purchasing/selling of foreign currency by resident natural persons via exchange houses and credit institutions is not limited

•  

• collections and payments may be performed: 
  -  in domestic currency (leu) and in foreign currency - for the operations that are not subject to goods and services trade
  - in domestic currency (leu) - for the operations that are subject to goods and services trade
  - in foreign currency - for the operations that are subject to goods and services trade

Source: http://telaviv.mae.ro/en/node/395

You can call us at:

+4 021 266 56 77

You can use the contact form

or just send us an email at: office@rbex.ro

.