Romania will become a key market for Kapsch if the group manages to secure a series of GSM-R communication projects for railroads and highway taxation systems become a business, Kari Kapsch said.
The company is already involved in an auction held by the railroad company, and it is monitoring talks on the introduction of a highway taxation system.
Asked about potential risks of investing in Romania, the company official said the government might not be willing to invest in the public sector, or the economy might not grow.
Kapsch was founded in 1892 in Vienna, as a telegraph machine maker, and it is a family business that has expanded to several countries in the region, through three divisions: BusinessCom (IT&C), CarrierCom (telecom and railroad communications) and TrafficCom (highway taxation equipment and solutions).
Concrete plans currently refer to the BusinessCom division, where the company has already employed 40 people and it is in talks to take over two local firms. The company official said takeovers will target a software company and a provider of energy IT solutions, telecom and network security provider.
The takeovers will take the bulk of the EUR7-10 million investment budgeted for Romania.
In Romania, Kapsch will compete against the local branches of IBM and HP, as well as Austrian-owned companies such as S&T, Romsys or Frontal Communication. Other competitors include Polish group Asseco, as well as local companies such as SIVECO, the Asesoft group or Star Storage. Last year the local software and IT services market was evaluated at EUR704 million by Pierre Audoin Consultants. This year, the market is expected to reach a value of EUR760 million.
(English version by Andrei Circhelan)