Over 3.5 million Romania emigrated in the last 40 year and the country lost up to EUR 50 billion because of this. These funds were spent on these people before their employment, and the current Government should do more to keep Romanians in Romania, said Dragos Rosca, head of the Gemisa investment fund.

A study by GfK and the Romanian Business Leaders foundation reveals that the Romanian state spends about EUR 10,000 on each citizen, before employment, for those who leave education aged 18, and EUR 20,000 on those who go to University. Romania lost some EUR 50 billion this way, by spending on education, transport, social services for people who eventually went to Italy, Germany, Spain, Canada and the US, all rich countries.

Workforce migration is one of the main concerns of the Romanian business environment, the study also reveals.

“We are trying to attract EU funding, but we lose money by losing people. The problem is that we, the business environment, we don't manage to influence the Government to take measures to limit this exodus phenomenon,” said Rosca.

editor@romania-insider.com