Gov't unveils 'Rebuilding Romania - A National Investment and Economic Recovery Plan

The government on Wednesday unveiled its 'Rebuilding Romania - A National Investment and Economic Recovery Plan' in the presence of President Klaus Iohannis.

Opening the ceremony was Iohannis, who was followed by Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, Deputy Prime Minister Raluca Turcan, Minister of Public Finance Florin Citu, Minister of Labour Violeta Alexandru, Minister of Economy Virgil Popescu, and Minister of Transport Lucian Bode.

"The health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic has laid bare Romania's vulnerabilities caused by the development model promoted by previous governments. Only the prompt and sustained intervention of the government and the voluntary compliance of Romanians with the measures adopted has contained the coronavirus and effectively controlled its spread, while the economy has been saved from collapse by support measures for companies and employees. Romania's development model based solely on household consumption determined by the pro-cyclical polices of the previous governments has to be changed in a new model of economic growth focused on: boosting and developing the local capital and competitiveness of Romanian companies, investment in strategic areas of public infrastructure, digital transformation of the economy and public administration, preparing the economy for the new technological revolution, the transition to a sustainable economy," reads the document.

According to it, "the objective of the new economic development model promoted by the government is to achieve convergence with European economies, so that the per capita Gross Domestic Product at standard purchasing parity will reach 87% of the EU27 average by 2025."

Grants for business reopening, working capital and investment, grants to increase the competitiveness of SMEs, grants for innovative entrepreneurship and corporate digitisation, support for the development of agriculture and the agri-food industry, financing for new programmes and for the relocation of companies to Romania, guarantee programmes to secure corporate liquidity, instruments to increase the capitalisation of companies and investment funding, as well as support measures for employees and companies necessary for the resumption of economic activities, as well as social protection are all considered in the plan.

The plan developed by the government also targets transport infrastructure, energy infrastructure, health infrastructure, education infrastructure, investment in local development, agricultural and irrigation infrastructure, environmental investment and sports infrastructure.