Despite SMEs being present in political rhetoric as a key sector for helping relaunch the Romanian economy, the Economy Ministry does not know how many businesses were built from scratch in 2012 or how many small and middle-sized companies were brought down by the crisis in the same year.
“For statistical information on small and medium-sized enterprises in Romania, please contact the INS [National Statistics Institute], the institution tasked with centralizing and providing such data,” was the answer sent to Ziarul Financiar by the press office of the Economy Ministry. Following a similar request, the government agency for entrepreneurs in Poland sent an almost 100-page report presenting the situation of SMEs in Romania in full detail.
f the Romanian Economy Ministry does not know how many SMEs were set up or dissolved in Romania in 2012, how can a strategy be built for small entrepreneurs?
With 24 SMEs per every thousand inhabitants, Romania ranks last but one in the European Union, far from the EU average (40 small and medium-sized enterprises per every thousand inhabitants).
But this gap can become a driver for the relaunch of the Romanian economy and can act as a base for developing start-ups.
Agriculture, e-commerce, creative activities and niches in transport and trade can in the coming period supply a new class of entrepreneurs, a stronger one than the first generation of local capitalists. But a start-up needs predictability and stable legislation in order to have chances to succeed.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)