Romania has climbed four spots in a ranking of the 33 most attractive countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) for private companies, according to the PwC EMEA Entrepreneurial & Private Business Heatmap. The country thus ranks 28th this year, up from 32nd in the previous edition of the report.

The rankings are based on scores for 64 indicators in nine categories: macroeconomics, private business landscape, tax and regulatory regime, sustainability and climate, social responsibility and governance, public health, education/skills/talent, technology and infrastructure, and startup ecosystem.

“Romania has slightly improved its overall score from the previous edition, scoring best on tax and regulatory framework and macroeconomic indicators, but as the analysis shows, these have a relatively low impact on how companies assess and select a country as a destination for business development. Moreover, as the analysis was carried out at the end of last year, the tax indicator does not reflect the impact of the major changes that will apply from 2024, which will most likely be seen in the next edition,” said Dinu Bumbăcea, Country Managing Partner PwC Romania.

Among the 33 countries analyzed, Romania ranks best in macroeconomics (7th) and tax and regulatory regime (8th). 

In the remaining categories, Romania ranks low in technology and infrastructure - 18th, social responsibility and governance - 20th, sustainability and climate - 21st, education/skills and talent - 22nd, private business landscape - 24th, startup ecosystem - 24th, and public health - 33rd, the last place.

These positions place Romania in the fourth category of emerging markets, behind Greece and ahead of Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Croatia, PwC said.

Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, Finland, Ireland, Spain, and France are in the first category of attractiveness, while Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and Estonia have been placed in the second category of advanced countries.

In the third category of the analysis, the developing countries are Poland, Lithuania, Cyprus, Malta, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, and Slovenia.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

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