Romania loses on its own hand
Our country could earn tens of billions of euros from the Constanta Port, if we would use a simple recipe regarding the tax facilities already successfully adopted by the Western countries, like the Netherlands. But for now, because of the lack of interest from the ones who establish the financial policies, we are losing on our own hand. Transforming our country into the "Gate of Europe for the Asian goods" represented the main theme of the conference organized at end April by the European Gateways Platform, the Romanian-Dutch Chamber of Commerce in Bucharest, Dutch-Romanian Network and Archicom.
The solutions that could make Romania a European logistic center were suggested by experts within multinational companies in several fields, including financial and tax consultants, who debated the opportunities to increase the competitiveness of our country in Europe. There were several ideas expressed regarding the transformation of the domestic transport corridors, by attracting foreign companies interested in developing high value activities in Romania (research and development, assembly, adaptation), which would lead to the increase of the internal product, would generate new jobs and supplementary income to the state.
Fewer barriers, more chances
"The commerce always follows the way where it could find fewer barriers, and Romania has important advantages which, together with measures already implemented in other countries in the European Union, could offer the development opportunities it needs to be an easy access gate to Europe", declared Robin Martens, the president of European Gateways Platform and general manager of Archicom SRL.
"Although we think that the transport infrastructure is an important element in Romania's transformation into a logistic hub for the Central and Eastern Europe, the infrastructure alone can't attract investments in this field. There is also a great need for a stable and predictable business environment, as well as for implementing some key tax measures, which would transform the potential of Romania in a greater competitive advantage to become the preferred destination for foreign investments", said Peter de Ruiter, leader of the Tax and Law Consultancy Department of PriceWaterhouseCoopers Romania and president of the Dutch-Romanian Chamber of Commerce.
Within the event several examples were presented in which, although the import in Europe though Constanta Harbor would have been more competitive, big European manufacturers decided to go around Romania because of the tax bureaucracy and because the lack of facilities that exist in the Western Europe and are accepted by the European Union.
The conclusions of the conference were written down in a document of position, which contains general evaluations and recommendations and which was handed over to the state secretary in the Ministry of Economy Maria Parcalabescu, so that the proposals from the business environment would reach the Government.
The organizers
European Gateways Platform (EGP) is a public-private partnership between the Dutch Government and the Dutch-Romanian companies in infrastructure and logistics. EGP considers this Dutch-Romanian association as a very strong partnership able to generate efficient logistic and commercial services for Europe. The EGP activities in Romania are managed by Robin Martens, general manager of Archicom SRL.
Archicom is a Dutch-Romanian company specialized in logistics and supply chains with an expertise of 20 years in supporting and counseling the companies in Europe, Asia and United States in the logistics and real estate fields.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers offers financial audit services, tax and business consultancy, specialized in several fields. PWC Romania and its correspondent lawyer company D&B David and Baias have currently more than 650 experts within their regional offices in Romania and Republic of Moldavia, in Bucharest, Cluj, Timisoara and Chisinau.
The mission of the Dutch-Romanian Chamber of Commerce is to increase the bilateral commercial exchanges and investments through supporting and defending the interests of its members.
Dutch-Romanian Network is a non-profit organization that aims to promote the bilateral investments and commercial contracts in Romania and the Netherlands.
12 advices that could change Romania
1. Pay of the VAT for imports by deduction for all companies.
2. Global tax representation.
3. Postponing of the customs debts payment.
4. Authorized Economic Agent - supplementary advantages.
5. Predictability of the business environment.
6. Customs formalities applied to the merchandise in the interior of the country.
7. Use the EU CO2 reduction scheme.
8. Inter-modal transport strategy in Romania.
9. Domestic logistics and assembly hubs.
10. Terrestrial corridors for crossing the Carpathian Mountains.
11. Transit Tax for Danube-Black Sea Channel.
12. Education in logistics and supply-chain.
Meda BORCESCU
meda.borcescu@ziuacargo.ro
Publicat in revista Ziua Cargo din May 2010
