ANCA HARASIM, AMCHAM: "It is important to define a concrete economic objective on a national level"

The new fiscal measures proposed by the government are likely to distort the market mechanisms, to increase the fiscal burden, which will be reflected at the level of every taxpayer, and are completely inadequate at the end of a major rewriting of the fiscal legislation, which the members of AmCham have actively participated in with their expertise in that field, says Mrs. Anca Harasim, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania (AmCham Romania).

She told us that the authorities should ensure a stable, predictable and transparent environment for investments, and that they should adopt measures which have the potential of giving Romania a economically competitive position in the region and, "why not", in the world.

Mrs. Anca Harasim considers that Romania has to find its voice and to decide the part it is fit to play internationally: "We have a few powerful sectors in which we are competitive and which, if they get exploited to their fullest, could become engines of economic growth for Romania.

At this moment, it is important to define a concrete economic goal on a national level that would serve as an anchor and which would bring cohesion to the actions of the players in the public, private and civil society sectors. This happened prior to Romania's accession to the EU and all of us have seen what was possible in a very short period. The authorities, or the private sector, can generate a process which could even formulate a new future for Romania and for setting the economic objective on a national level which I have spoken about above, by inviting all the relevant players of society to contribute.

Once we come to an agreement on the point that we want to reach through a democratic and participative process, the implementation is simple and effective through the commitment of those who have become involved and have contributed from the beginning".

As for the opportunities offered by the China - Central and Eastern Europe forum in Romania, Mrs. Anca Harasim says that she doesn't have specific reactions from the members of the AmCham in that regard. "As an organization, through our affiliation to the US Chamber of Commerce and to the European Network of American Chambers of Commerce we are looking with interest at the opportunities offered by the Trade and Investments Partnership project, currently being negotiated by the US and the European Union and we want the Romanian authorities to exploit the opportunities this new trade framework can provide for Romania. We are interested in keeping an investment sector that is equal for everybody and in ensuring compliance with high standards of corporate governance", the executive director of AmCham said.

• "Human capital - the key competitive advantage which has attracted significant investments"

The connection between the business and the academic environment is essential to maintaining one of the key competitive advantages which have attracted significant investments in Romania, specifically the human capital, says Mrs. Anca Harasim. One of the recommendations of AmCham in that direction is to achieve correlation between the needs and the realities of the labor market and the qualifications provided by the universities. She said: "The lack of this correlation causes significant costs for a company and plays an important part in the decision to invest. At the same time, Romania must also consider the preservation of the human capital as a key competitive factor, but not through the low labor costs, but through its quality and a high number of specialists with high technical qualifications instead.

Aside from the «Become a Leader!» project, which you mentioned, we have recently initiated a dialog with the representatives of universities to find the best solutions for reaching that goal. We are happy to see the openness of the academic segment to having that dialog, we believe that the universities understand the needs expressed by companies and we will continue to facilitate this cooperation which in the end is beneficial for the economy as a whole".

• "The dynamic of AmCham has reflected to a great extent Romania's dynamic over the last 20 years"

The Romanian American Chamber in Romania was created in 1993 by a group of 22 founding members, which were American investors; in the year 2000 the organization had 43 members, and today AmCham has over 350 members, American companies, international and Romanian ones, ranging from corporations and small and medium enterprises.

Mrs. Anca Harasim told us: "The dynamic of AmCham has reflected to a great extent the dynamic of Romania over the last 20 years. Starting with the year 2000, as the business community matured and has taken on an active part in the dialogue with the authorities, so did the scale of the activity of AmCham, making it a first-rank business association and a benchmark in the area of business organizations".

Mrs. Harasim told us: "Without limiting the accomplishments of AmCham to what happens next, I would mention projects such as the launch of the document which contained recommendations of measures and public policies < < Priorities for Romania > >, which has been launched every year since 2008; the drawing up of the Competitiveness Report for Romania and the launch in December 2011 - from that moment on, the pushing of measures for increasing the economic competitiveness of Romania is among the core recommendations of AmCham. Promoting the involvement of companies in the community through corporate responsibility programs has been a constant on the agenda of AmCham since the beginning of the 2000s, and, together with our partners < < The Association for Community Relations > >, we have organized conferences to educate companies on the issue, and this year we have organized together the 10th edition of the recognition and award event, the «People for People Gala ».

The actions to promote the investment opportunities that Romania has to offer have also made themselves noticed in projects such as Ambassadorial RoadShow to the U.S. in 2008, a year when a mission of leaders of American companies together with the Romanian ambassador in the US and his American peer in Romania have presented what at the time could have been called Europe's best kept secret (Romania) to the business communities of important American cities".