Summary of the BAC Meeting

The last of the regular business missions organized by the Business Advisory Council took place in Bucharest on 27/28. September 2001. All BAC-members have invited representatives of the business community of their respective countries. Over 70 western participants and 120 from Romania and the region attended the conference. Strong interest in establishing business links and contacts was evident in the big number of participants, especially from Germany, France and Greece.

The agenda of the first day included an opening plenary session and six break-out sessions in the afternoon. These round-table meetings were dedicated to different industries – infrastructure, water/waste-water, banking and finance, energy, telecommunications and IT, food, agriculture and forestry. After a general overview on the sector development, several projects were presented to the audience, followed by discussions on concrete topics and cooperation opportunities. Obstacles to investment and business activities were an important part of the discussion. Very fruitful and rewarding were also the informal meetings during the evening dinner reception and the coffee-breaks.

The seventh meeting of the Business Advisory Council took place on the second day in the presence and with the active participation of the Romanian Finance Minister. The high-level dialogue concentrated on the political, legal and institutional framework for economic development and investment promotion in Romania and the region.