One third of the Romanian companies, mainly from manufacturing, technology and consumer goods industries, are considering international expansion in the coming year to increase business, according to a study conducted by Citibank.

“We notice that more and more companies start to evaluate opportunities for development abroad. We believe that this gives a positive image of Romania and of the five industries in which we see a growing interest for expansion: the manufacturing industry (31 percent), technology (21 percent), consumer products (19 percent) and the chemical and energy industry (seven percent),” said Vlad Ponta, head of the Small and Medium Enterprises department at Citibank Romania.

The most popular areas for expansion are the Middle East, Europe and the U.S.

The Citi study was conducted on over 1,400 respondents, of which 83 percent are top specialists in the financial sector, while 61 percent are CEO, CFO or managing partners within companies in Romania, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Turkey, Bahrain, Jordan and United Arab Emirates.

At regional level, 58 percent of the medium-sized companies in the study plan to expand their operations internationally in the coming year, while over a third of the small businesses have the same objective.

Some of the most common challenges for medium-sized companies in the region are increasing sales or managing declines in sales volumes, international expansion, changes in the economic environment and working capital management, shows the study.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com