Romanians are generally very welcoming of Americans and very favorable towards products and services from the U.S. Despite Romania’s challenges, several underlying attributes of its economy allow it to keep positive momentum in terms of economic growth and, ultimately, opportunities for trade. As an EU member state, Romania not only offers a sizable domestic market but also a comparatively low-cost foothold for accessing the entire EU market. The country’s location - bordering the Black Sea in Southeast Europe - provides a view beyond Europe and shortens the distance for export sales to Turkey, the Balkans, the Middle East, Ukraine, and Moldova.

Romania is the country with the highest energy independence in the EU. The context of the war in Ukraine showed the world the need to have its own gas resources and not to depend on imports from Russia. A recent report shows that Romania was 28% dependent on energy imports, compared to the EU average of 57%. In the complicated geopolitical context of the war in Ukraine, an increase was generated in the interest of foreign investors in Romania. There has been particular interest in the defense and security sectors, both in terms of investment and supply to border states. The climate of attracting foreign companies to invest in Romania in the last two years is getting better, with the reopening of the economy, existing an increase in requests made by investors interested in developing projects in Romania; and FDI has increased by 141% in 2021 compared to 2020. The quality of a highly skilled, affordable  workforce is the main attraction for investors. For example, most engineers speak at least one foreign language, which is not very common in other countries.

Digitization is now the main goal of the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization to make life easier for the citizens in the interaction with the state.

The advantages of the developed IT sector in Romania were also exposed, emphasizing the need for public-private partnerships as a key factor for growth of the business environment and for increase of its capacity to expand to international markets.

The U.S. Commercial Service Romania believes that the best prospects for U.S. companies in Romania are in the following sectors, each of which is explored in greater detail later in this report:

• Agribusiness
• Defense
• Energy, Oil & Gas, Renewable Energy
• ICT (Information & Communications Technology)
• Health