Business Minister Oprea: Start-up Nation program has positively changed the mentality about entrepreneurs

The Start-Up Nation program and the success story of certain companies have changed the society's mentality about entrepreneurs, who were so far perceived as offenders, Minister for the Business Environment, Commerce and Entrepreneurship Stefan Oprea said on Monday, as he attended the opening of the Commercial Diplomacy Days, an event organized by the Ministry for the Business Environment, Commerce and Entrepreneurship in partnership with the Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE) and the Center for Excellence in Foreign Trade.

As the minister talked about the boost the Start-Up Nation program gives the entrepreneurial spirit, the journalists asked him why a government program had been necessary for this.

"We had to learn to talk about the success story in Romania. Formerly, a great part of the Romanian society was regarding the entrepreneur ... let's say it in all seriousness, as an offender, an enriched profiteer, they didn't see the entrepreneur's effort and the innovation part, his role as a driver for new trends in the economy. This is what I want us to talk about in Romania, about the fact that the entrepreneur has a success story and is also involved in the life of the local communities, bringing added value where he is," Oprea said.

The minister said that there are many new successful businesses that grow exponentially, and cited the example of UiPath, which has very fast reached a market capitalization of nearly 10 billion dollars.

"These things are happening in Romania because ecosystems exist, there is this strong creative environment. Maybe the public policies of 2000-2004 when intensive math - computer science classes were introduced in the highschool curriculum are yielding fruit today. We are talking about 120,000 IT experts. Certainly, in conjunction with the idea that we managed to keep them in Romania by the tax-free income facility and that almost 6 percent of Romania's GDP comes from the IT sector," said the dignitary.

The Business Minister emphasized that this information needs to be known in order to serve as an inspiration to other young people with business appetite.

"Many times, it has been hard in Romania to say 'thank you'. But we must say it, because we owe a 'thank you' to many. And I always say 'thank you' to those who pay their taxes and dues every month, with no coercion imposed on them, because it is them who keep everything public system in Romania running," said the Minister for the Business Environment.