Pre-financing of 15-30 percent for those who want to access European funds, easier access to EU funds, amending the public acquisition law, speeding up the development of contracts with the state, offering tax exemption to employers who send their employees into temporary unemployment, reducing the number of taxes – all are recommendations from business leaders, that came up during the Private Government debates, which were turned into legislation, and are having positive effects in the economy. The project, initiated by Business Standard in September 2008, attracted over 200 Romanian business leaders to its brainstorming sessions, and, later to meetings with members of the Executive.
Another package of measures proposed by business people are now on the Executive’s agenda. There are hopes that many of these solutions will eventually be implemented, as the International Monetary Fund and the European Union are also putting pressure on the Executive to adopt such measures.
“The Private Government is a project of stability and continuity in the field of government decision-making, a project in which the private environment sets an example for the public government,” Florin Pogonaru, President of the Association Romanian Businesspeople (AOAR), said.
“AmCham Romania joined the Private Government project from the time it was launched, as the debates represented a very necessary dialog between the business community and government representatives. The project supports adopting measures to raise Romania’s competitiveness, to keep and attract direct investors, especially since Romania’s economic attractiveness is declining,” said Sorin Mindrutescu, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania (AmCham).
