Around 50 French companies are currently looking at the Romanian market and plan to start investing locally in areas like medicine, energy and environment and some of them could turn these plans into reality on the medium term, according to the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Romania (CCIFER).

“Around 100 French companies came to Romania in the last two years, all interested in trade or in partnerships with local companies […] The trend is in favor of French investors in Romania, while there is also interest from Romanian companies interested in investing in France. There was a 30 percent drop in the number of French companies looking at the Romanian market this year,” said Daniela Apolozan, the executive director of CCIFER.

The chamber of commerce is hoping for France to stay on the third place among sources of foreign investments to Romania. The value of French investments in Romania are currently of EUR 7 billion, according to Apolozan. The amount takes into account the recency of investments and the origin of the companies, not of the capital. “Despite the crisis, none of the French companies left Romania and there are currently over 6,000 French investor-backed companies registered at the Romanian Trade Registry,” Apolozan has added.

According to official statistics, French investors rank fifth in the top of foreign investment sources for Romania.  Imports from France to Romania totalled EUR 1.43 billion in the first half of the year, while exports on the French market reached EUR 1.23 billion during the same period.

Some of the largest French investors in Romania are Renault, Orange, Lafarge, BRD – Groupe Societe Generale, Groupama, Danone, Carrefour.

romania-insider.com