CHINESE INVESTORS FIND IT HARD TO GET INTO ROMANIA Our visa policy is very restrictive

• Interview with Nicolae Vasilescu, the president of the Romanian-Chinese House

Reporter: Lately there has been a lot of talk about the interest of Chinese investors of entering our market. How big is that interest, really?

Nicolae Vasilescu: The interest of Chinese companies in investing in Romania is increasing, but for now we are at a tentative stage. There is a significant surplus of cash-flow on the Chinese market, which the countries going through a crisis could use, "and the smartest European countries are taking the actions needed to benefit from this cash flow. China can become a viable alternative for the financing of European projects. We are on the way up, but the light at the end of the tunnel is far - the authorities sure know how to speak a lot and say lots of nice things, but they are not doing anything.

Reporter: Concretely, how is our country's relationship with the Chinese?

Nicolae Vasilescu: The attitude towards a country like China is very important. Out of Eastern Europe, it's Hungary that has excellent economic relations with China, not us. For example, whereas last year, the Romanian state issued 11,000 visas for Chinese citizens, Hungary issued 114,000 visas.

This means that the Hungarians are very permissive when it comes to allowing the Chinese who want to come and invest in their country. Our visa policy is very restrictive. Sure there are < recommendations > in this regard at the EU level, since we are a state which wants to enter the Schengen space. Normally, our border would have to be very well secured, but not even the Chinese who have a Schengen visa enter in Romania.

They are required to get a Romanian visa, which is absurd, considering they have a Schengen visa in their pocket".

Reporter: What other problems do the Chinese run into when they come here to do business?

Nicolae Vasilescu: Another problem concerns the fact that we are bad at marketing ourselves, we don't know how to present our intentions. We bring all kinds of colored papers to the meetings, with investments in highways, ports, bridges, etc, but the Chinese just want to see the last page, which according to them, needs to specify how much that investment would cost and how they would get their money back. We don't have that page, we never tell the ones who come in to invest < give us 200 million and this is how you'll recoup it >.

There is also a third problem, politically speaking - it's a tacit recommendation made at cocktail parties and by the governments of the EU, which basically says < let's not get too chummy with China, let's us cooperate among ourselves instead >.

Reporter: Could you give us an example of investment which, had it received more support from the state, could have already been done in Romania?

Nicolae Vasilescu: The president of a very large company which manufactures cars in China came to Romania, stayed at a hotel in Bucharest for almost a week, waiting to be received by someone in the government, but it was all for nothing. Nobody from the government received these investors, who subsequently left for Bulgaria, where they were received by the Prime Minister, and by the president, and now, just 60 km from the border with Romania, there is a huge investment, which has generated 3,000 jobs. We couldn't even get them in for a talk.

Reporter: But in spite of all this, the Chinese still want to invest on our market...

Nicolae Vasilescu: The Chinese are still testing the lay of the land, because they are just beginning to venture outside China, they don't understand the legislation. We have just translated the law of the Private-Public partnerships in Chinese, and we have sent it to them, but the law without the implementation rules is useless. It is harder in the beginning, but we hope to start making progress slowly. They come to Romania very often, we get about two-three Chinese missions each week. China is the 16th largest investor in Romania.

Reporter: Which areas in our country are they looking to invest in?

Nicolae Vasilescu: They are very interested in energy, meaning everything that concerns wind farms, photovoltaic energy, the acquisition of natural resources (ores, coal), even in the reopening of some mines. They are also involved in real estate investments - they are buying or developing office buildings. More recently, they have gotten involved in the development of residential neighborhoods as well. There are lots of companies with Chinese capital in Romania and they are even becoming an alternative to banks.

Reporter: Are they interested in privatizations such as the one of "Cupru Min"?

Nicolae Vasilescu: Generally, they don't get involved in this kind of projects unless they are invited, and they are wise not to, because they have already run into problems in doing that: they came here, they won a call for tenders twice and then it was annulled, simply because they were Chinese.

Reporter: At one time, they were interested in the construction of the two reactors of Cernavodă...

Nicolae Vasilescu: There is a principle agreement that the Chinese party would also participate in the negotiations for this project.

Reporter: How do Romanian banks view Chinese investors?

Nicolae Vasilescu: There are no problems between the banks and the Chinese, but we don't have a Chinese bank in Romania. There are some intentions to have the Bank for the Development of China open a branch in Romania. It's all at a tentative level, they even had talks with the NBR. Perhaps if this bank gets opened, Chinese investors will feel safer, because they will have their own bank behind them. Officials of the Bank for Development have been in Romania for a very long time, and they are studying the market to see how effective it would be to open such a branch here. For the moment, they are just studying the market.

Reporter: Do we have investments on the Chinese market?

Nicolae Vasilescu: Very few. But I can tell you that exports have increased a lot and I would first of all mention wine and timber.

Reporter: Do we have any initiatives to promote our wine on their market?

Nicolae Vasilescu: We don't need any big efforts to promote them, because no matter how much wine we export to China, it still wouldn't be enough to cover their demand. I think that between last year and the current moment, "Murfatlar" has exported wine worth over 1 million Euros.

Reporter: At any rate, we do import more than we export...

Nicolae Vasilescu: We do import, but 80% of the Romanian imports of fast moving consumer goods are made by Chinese companies operating in Romania. They are the ones doing the importing, not the Romanian companies. Most of the companies with Chinese capital are located in "Niro", which is the largest retail complex in Europe.

Reporter: What is the trade balance between the two countries like?

Nicolae Vasilescu: It has begun adjusting a bit, but the imports are still bigger, with a 1 to 3 ratio (25% - exports and 75% - imports).

Reporter: What are the biggest investments with Chinese capital in Romania?

Nicolae Vasilescu: There are several, but the biggest is "China International Tobacco" - the plant of Buzău - followed by two important companies which make electronic parts and other companies specializing in sports apparel - these are the companies which also saw support from the government.

Reporter: As for the activity of the Romanian-Chinese House, what actions is it currently taking?

Nicolae Vasilescu: We have many initiatives. One of the most important includes the circus show which will be held on May 1st at the "Sala Palatului" venue in Bucharest. The circus of China will offer a show for the Romanian public. More than 4,000 tickets were sold. Also, at the seaside, we have the Kite Festival.

We have begun a campaign called "Visit China", by which we are promoting the tourist programs which have China as their destination of China. We have over 40 different programs for China and it is the first time that we do that in Romania. The budget for this campaign is 50,000 Euros. Recently, we have also launched the "Casa Prieteniei" (ed. note: House of Friendship) magazine.

Reporter: What plans do you have for the future?

Nicolae Vasilescu: We have a few very important projects. First of all we want to build the House of China, which will feature a room which will be used for shows, seminars, movie viewing and an exhibition complex, a sort of museum of the Chinese culture and history. We hope that it will be a partnership with the mayoralty of Bucharest, in the same vein as the House of Latin America. We have already had the final talks with the authorities and they are ongoing.

Reporter: How much will the House of China cost?

Nicolae Vasilescu: We can't speak of a budget yet, because we will be the ones paying the wages of those who will manage this exhibition complex, and the mayoralty will be the one buying the building.

Reporter: What is the second project you are considering?

Nicolae Vasilescu: Another project is the Chinese School in Bucharest. By the end of this year, we plan to find an adequate location to open this first school. There is a heavy demand both from the Chinese community in Bucharest, as well as from the Romanians themselves. Last year, the heaviest competition at the University of Bucharest was for the Chinese language department. There were been 20 spots available and 300 candidates, whereas for the English department there were just two candidates per spot. The Romanian-Chinese House will probably create a company, and any Romanian and Chinese companies which will want to participate in it will buy shares for the presented project.

Reporter: Where does the funding of the budget of the Romanian-Chinese House come from?

Nicolae Vasilescu: The budget of the Chinese-Romanian House comes from fees and the contributions of its members. The House is an NGO, an association which comprises individuals as well as companies - both Romanian and Chinese. Basically, the most important Chinese companies which have invested in Romania are members of the House.

Reporter: Thank you!