Artificial intelligence will play a critical role in society, the economy, as well as in warfare, and for Romania to be at least a medium-scale player in this area, we need competitive energy prices and a more effectively designed digitalization strategy, presidential advisor Radu Burnete told the "RBL Romanian Capital 360°" conference on Wednesday.
Speaking about the things that "should be done quickly", Burnete referred to the nearing moment when the baby-boom generation, beginning with the 1966 cohort will retire.
"By 2030, Romania is expected to undergo another significant financial shift, driven by the retirement of the baby-boom generation and the commitment to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. This sets the stage for a complex fiscal transition in the coming years, one that requires reducing the deficit and curbing public spending, while simultaneously managing mounting pressures on the national budget, and I don't think managing this transition will be easy," said Burnete.
The second issue that needs to be solved in the shortest possible time is digitalization, in the perspective of artificial intelligence which will play an important role in all fields of activity.
"It's clear that AI will play a major role in society, the economy, and warfare. For Romania to be at least a mid-level player in this area, because I don't imagine that we will compete with the giants, we need two essentials: competitive energy prices and a more effective digitalization strategy. Building data centers is pointless without meaningful public-sector input. Time is not on our side," the advisor argued.
Defense is another area where things need to be set in motion, with Radu Burnete giving assurances that the SAFE program will bring investments to Romania.
"Driven by current circumstances, it's clear we need to revitalize our defense industry. We've waited too long, and we can't afford to be caught off guard and wonder why we didn't act sooner. The SAFE package will bring new investments to Romania, and the government has rightly set a condition: any military equipment we acquire must include offset clauses and contribute to building domestic capacity. While investing in defense is now a necessity, it also presents an opportunity to advance an industrial transition we needed to undertake regardless," he explained.
Last but not least, Romanian capital must be "put into motion in the economy", with Burnete being of the opinion that pension funds should invest more in riskier instruments.
"Looking around in the region I see that other states are a bit more ambitious with this, so you certainly have a partner in me for this discussion: what to do to make sure that this capital does not go abroad, does not just stay in banks, but simply make it more productive for our economy," the representative of the Presidency pointed out.
Radu Burnete urged the entrepreneurs present at the conference to continue doing business because "there is light at the end of the tunnel."
"Now (...) we must be realistic: Russia will continue exerting pressure, and Europe is struggling to keep pace with the US and China. We're living through profound transformations that inevitably raise social tensions - just as history has shown. Turbulent times lie ahead, but business must go on, regardless of conditions. I urge you to act, because there is light at the end of the tunnel. This war will end, Europe will regain its balance, and we cannot afford to wait passively for better days to come," he said.
Over 200 entrepreneurs, business leaders and experts participate on Wednesday and Thursday in the 6th edition of the RBL Romanian Capital event organized by the Romanian Business Leaders Foundation (RBL).
This year's edition, "RBL Romanian Capital 360°", proposes a completely reconfigured format which looks at Romania from an integrated perspective and explores the eight forms of capital that define a modern, competitive and sustainable economy: sports, cultural, social, artistic, defense, symbolic, human and financial.
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