Romanian IT&C companies should start thinking about expansion abroad, even though many entrepreneurs in this business lack the courage or cannot be bothered to do it now, say the guests attending the second day of the ZF Digital ’11 forum organized by Ziarul Financiar.
“There will be Romanian companies that will play an important part internationally, as has happened in Poland. There are Polish companies investing in Romania, such as Scop Computers. Romanian companies have a high potential but they need to invest,” said Ronald Binkofski, chief executive officer of Microsoft Romania.
This idea was also debated during the first day of the forum when guests included Florin Talpes and Irina Socol, two industry veterans and among the few entrepreneurs that actually went abroad.
Thinking beyond the confines of the local market and the courage to go global score points in the eyes of investors, said Dan Lupu, head of the Intel Capital investment fund.
“Entrepreneurs currently lack the vision and ambition to move from making a good life for oneself to the effort to building a global company,” said Lupu, who added he was open to investments in any IT company that would generate value for Intel.
“We are discussing with companies made up of just a few kids to companies with millions of users. Young people are very enthusiastic in that they want to conquer the world, which is extraordinary, they are less focused on material gain, they want their work recognized, but talks about money are no less important,” Lupu added at the ZF Digital ’11 forum organized by Ziarul Financiar in partnership with NEC, Lenovo, Samsung, Banca Transilvania and Deloitte.
Another problem hindering expansion on international markets is the lack of expertise and know-how. “Online companies have focused especially on the Romanian market because they hope it will grow. Some have dropped their global ambitions, however, because of the lack of know-how, of expertise,” believes Dan Vartopeanu, mobile marketer.
This, he feels, is the reason why the same idea that fails in Romania gets millions of dollars in financing when developed by companies in the USA.
Major companies like Neogen and eMag have already taken their first steps on foreign markets or are considering to. For instance, Neogen wants to turn CeeVee.com into “an international bestjobs” (referring to job search site bestjobs.ro). “We want to provide European services because we see Romania as a county of Europe,” said Calin Fusu, chief executive officer of Neogen.
The first market online retailer eMag will go to is Bulgaria. “We will go to Bulgaria, too, we hope to do it next year. Delivery will be done from Romania, we will have a dedicated website, dedicated products, but operated from [Romania]. It’s easier to deliver to Sofia than to Baia Mare,” said Radu Apostolescu, CEO of the company.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)