THE "BANKING UNION" CONFERENCE - A DEBATE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ROMANIA / ANCA LAURA IONESCU, SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF THE ECONOMY: "The biggest problem of SMEs is the difficult access to financing"

The problems of the private sector in Romania are the same as the ones faced by its peers in the European Union, according to the statements of Mrs Anca Laura Ionescu, secretary of state in the Ministry of the Economy, who says that in 2013 and 2014, representatives of the ministry have taken trips across the country, in order to get better information concerning the aspects that hinder the growth of the business sector.

"I have met the representatives of the business sector and I have found that the problems of the private sector in Romania are the same as those of the EU: the high number of taxes, the high number of necessary permits, bureaucracy, the lack of qualified personnel and the difficult access to funding", Mrs. Ionescu said. "One of the priority objectives of the Government is the development of the business sector, in order for it to become stable, active and transparent, and for entrepreneurs to successfully deal with the domestic and foreign challenges, and with competition, respectively".

Anca Laura Ionescu also mentioned that the Ministry of the Economy is currently conducting programs for supporting SMEs and guaranteeing loans intended for that sector. He also mentioned that the amendment of the Law of SMEs has passed the Senate, is currently being debated by the Chamber of Deputies, and in two weeks the latter could pass it as well.

As future measures which the Ministry is considering for supporting the business sector, Mrs. Ionescu mentioned, first of all, supporting the access to financing by capitalizing the funds for the guarantee and counterguarantee of loans granted to SMEs, as well as the capitalization of CEC Bank and of EximBank.

"We want a continuation of our cooperation with the Romanian Banking Association and implicitly, with all the banks, so that together we can find solutions for overcoming the problem of difficult access to financing", said Mrs. Ionescu, who further said that it would be a good thing if banks posted on their websites the products they have that support SMEs.

According to him, the Ministry of the Economy, is looking to boost the number of active SMEs, of jobs and the growth of the already existing companies.