The political decision is more visible than any social dialogue behind it, as we do not have a culture of social and civic dialogue regarding the implementation and legislative process, Chairman of the Economic and Social Council (CES) Sterica Fudulea said on Monday at the "Economic Trends 2025" conference under the aegis of the National Bank of Romania (BNR).
"Often, the dialogue takes place on the day when a legislative initiative is approved, which is not good at all. Probably, if all the initiatives were discussed more thoroughly and earlier, we would not end up with hundreds of changes that impact and affect us," explained the CES chairman.
During the conference, he made a statistical parallel of the deficit of Romania's trade balance at present and over ten years ago. "In 2013 we had a trade balance deficit of EUR 5.5 billion, and in 2024 there are over EUR 30 billions of deficit in the first 11 months alone. That is a surge by 530% from 2013. At the same time, exports increased by only 173% and imports by 210%. That can be seen in our pockets, of all of us."
Fudulea added that the body that should manage the trade deficit, namely the Romanian Agency for Foreign Investment and Trade (ARICE), is far undersized with a totally insufficient staff.
"When the body was established, in the spirit of social dialogue, we proposed that it should have a management, an administration in public-private partnership, so that we can be more applied in what dialogue means. Unfortunately, ARICE has only 30% of the necessary staff," Fudulea said.
The European Businesswomen Confederation (PEFA) organised on Monday, at the National Bankf of Romania (BNR) Arenas in Bucharest, the third edition of the "Economic Trends 2025" conference, an event dedicated to this year's economic challenges and opportunities.
This year's edition focused on three thematic panels that addressed the main economic directions and development strategies.
The AGERPRES National News Agency was a media partner of the event.
PEFA is an employers' organisation, a member of SME Romania, the only national representative confederation for SMEs. PEFA promotes and supports gender equality, the role and importance of women in society and the economy. It offers entrepreneurs a strong platform to make their voices heard both at national level, in relation to central and local public administrations, and at European level.
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