Bogdan Pleșuvescu, BT: For Romania and its entrepreneurs there is now a favorable time to invest

At the conference Romania's indigenous capital - maturing and becoming a regional force, organized in September by CursDeGuvernare.ro, the 30 years of market economy, during which the indigenous capital has developed and is targeting three directions - from investment diversification, targeting high added value, to internationalization.

Moreover, the very opportune moment for accelerating the speed in these three directions was underlined, given the reindustrialization of Europe, the advanced negotiations for accession to the European Union of Moldova and, especially, Ukraine, as well as the strengthening of the EU's eastern flank, including the economic one. All this is a good opportunity for Romania's indigenous capital to show its potential.

The Banca Transilvania Group was represented by Mr. Bogdan Pleșuvescu, Deputy CEO, who conveyed the following messages regarding investment opportunities, taking into account the economic, social and political context, as well as the financing of local capital: 

• For Romania and its entrepreneurs there is now a favorable moment to invest, to coordinate the expansion policy towards this triangle that seems to be forming: the triangle Romania - Moldova - Ukraine.
  
  
• It is an opportunity also for Romanian politicians. The Guarantee Fund could greatly support the investments that Romanian companies could make in the reconstruction of Ukraine, in this part of investments in Moldova on pre-accession programs to the European Union.
  
  
• We have the know-how, we have the experience, we have been taught by others what pre-accession to the EU means, it is time to teach others, through partnership, programs that can benefit from government support for investment abroad.
  
  
• From an internationalization perspective, I will speak from my own perspective, I participated in the cross-border acquisitions that BT has made: the majority stake in Victoriabank, in the Republic of Moldova, where I coordinated the bank between 2018-2023; BCR Chisinau, through Victoriabank, as well as BT's expansion in Italy, in Rome.
  
  
• The current generations have the opportunity to transform this know-how that we have acquired through foreign investments in Romania, through all the training programs, to increase the leadership of Romanian companies or companies with Romanian capital, to coordinate them in such a way that Romanian businesses can expand abroad, as well as the businesses in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, if we look around us.
  
  
• As for opportunities, it has been said that Moldova is not considered a regional expansion. At the grass roots, things are different. Moldova is a country still outside the EU, but it presents particularities and opportunities for Romanian business. It is important to understand that, although it is said that the train does not often arrive at the station, for Romania and its entrepreneurs there is now a favorable moment to invest, to coordinate the expansion policy towards this triangle which seems to be forming: the triangle Romania - Republic of Moldova - Ukraine.
  
  
• The closeness in terms of language spoken, cultural proximity and the fact that we have gone through the period Moldova is going through now would help Romanian investors a lot if they were thinking of expanding their business in that area.
  
  
• Why do I say the Counter Guarantee Fund could be a good tool? Because when you invest abroad, it would be good to have access to finance in your own country as well as in the country where you invest, and BT provides this platform both in Romania and in the Republic of Moldova. I know that through the Association of Romanian Investors in the Republic of Moldova and through Repatriot, which is your partner, very great efforts are being made to bring investors from Romania who want to expand in the Republic of Moldova to the same table.
  
  
• Another particularity: embassies, consulates, visits where Romania has a strategic interest. It is important to understand that when you make an official visit to a foreign country, it is obligatory to meet at least one Romanian investor present in that country. I have witnessed many visits to the Republic of Moldova by personalities from abroad. When someone arrived in Chisinau, they made sure that they visited an investment made in Moldova by investors from their own country. The same should be done by Romanian politicians, regardless of which party they belong to. This sends out a strong signal which shows the importance of investments made abroad, while we are talking about expansion.
  
  
• Regarding the financing of local capital or Romanian entrepreneurs to encourage foreign expansion, there are three important things that are valid everywhere: access to know-how, access to financing, economic and fiscal predictability.
  
  
• Access to know-how is critical because you can't just wake up at night and say: I'm investing. You have to have a strategy, you have to have a plan, you have to have a product, you have to be a local champion. You have to have a track record behind you and you have to be able to have some procedures, governance, to be able to replicate those things in the environment where you want to invest abroad.
  
  
• At BT, over the last couple of years we see that the products most desired by companies are products that are dedicated to working capital. It's great that this is happening, but companies need to think 3-5-10 year strategic plans and these plans need investment.
  
  
• I was talking about the trend, the need to think strategically and invest to increase productivity and competitiveness. If we do not do that, we will be left behind, and when consolidation comes, we will be the ones who will be acquired, we will not be the ones who can acquire the competition. It's important to access funding lines, especially in the area of investment programs.
  
  
• The government programs to help Start-ups and SMEs are exceptional, they benefit about a third of the begging that BT does through these government programs. It helps young entrepreneurs a lot, but there needs to come the education part on inclusion, to get used to a small business becoming scalable.
  
  
• Alternatives could be crowdfunding, private equity, venture capital platforms. Here is the problem: We don't have a product, but it's not because we don't produce it in Romania, we have companies that manage to put a product on the table. The problem is that the business angel, venture capital and crowdfunding market is set up in such a way that investment funds can only afford or invest in a Romanian company in the first round of investment. In rounds 2, 3, when the issue of raising capital is raised, the problem is already moved to other legislations, to Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, because those legislations are much more permissive and access to financing is easier. Products exist, we have Bitdefender, for example, but because of the way the world is running, they have to outsource their company precisely to have access to this kind of financing.
  
  
• I remain optimistic because the economic outlook as it is now is encouraging for entrepreneurial business, we have built up enough expertise to be ready for the future.