“Romania is a very big market, with a tremendous development potential, but many people still rely on the paradigm ‘it can’t be done’,” Marco Capellini, general manager of Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Romania, said. The paradigm must be changed, he added.
A survey by Romania’s central bank shows that only 134 Romanian companies have had the courage to expand abroad via direct investment over the last few years, which is a very low number compared with other markets in the region. Poland and Czech Republic have 1,000 companies each that invested in Romania alone.
Even about the bold 134, George Mucibabici, president of Deloitte Romania, has some doubts, believing that most are probably outlets or presentation brands, not massive investments.
“I don’t understand why there aren’t Petrom gas stations all over the Balkans,” he wonders.
Exhaustive market surveys would be conducted in preparation of expansion of Romanian companies abroad before 1990, while after 1990 the government switched to bringing foreign investors in Romania, he added.
“If one wants to grow, one must go to other markets, invest, decide whether to stay in the lake or go to the sea. There are some fish in the lake, but there might not be enough for everybody, so one goes to the sea,” says Pierangelo Decisi, chairman of Soag Group, Sigit Oman Automotive Group, an automotive sector business.
Romanian entrepreneurs must first grow locally and then take the courage to get out of their comfort zone and take a calculated risk abroad. Once the decision made, there comes the research, analysis, partnership and containing potential losses part.
“Romanian companies that want to enter international markets need to be anchored in the present and have a regional thinking at least. The relationship with a bank, when you go to another market is important, because that way you have someone to provide funding, a partner that looks at risks together with you,” believes Florin Sandor, head of the corporate and SME division of Intesa Sanpaolo Bank.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)