The liberalisation of the energy market could attract important investments, the World Bank chief economist says.
Romania needs a strategy for 2014-2020 that will identify the medium and long-term development priorities and will transfer them into coherent sectorial policies, the World Bank chief economist in Romania, Catalin Pauna said yesterday during a conference organised by the National Prognosis Commission (CNP), dedicated to ‘The role of the private sector in developing competition in the research-development and innovation system.’ He added that a new model of medium and long-term development is needed, because the economic conditions experienced in the years before the crisis do not exist anymore. Now, efforts are required in view of mobilising internal resources for the development of Romania, Mediafax reports. Pauna insisted that the economic growth potential is much higher than its current level, and can be reached by cumulating several policies. ‘Liberalising the energy market would attract important investment resources, which may come from the private economy. Moreover, a programme is needed that will grant farmers’ access to retailers, along with setting up cross-border centres that will present the economic conditions in Romania and will promote the development potential,” the WB official added.
Romania wants to allocate 2 pc of the GDP to research
During the same event, Viorel Dobrescu, director with the Ministry of European Affairs said that Romania plans to reach a level of 2 pc of the gross domestic product (GDP) allocated to the research sector by 2020, in line with the Europe 2020 strategy, up from 0.48 of its GDP last year. He added that Romania fares very poorly, compared to other European states, in several chapters like competitiveness, industrial policy, health strategy, and innovation. “Romania ranks 27 based on the performance in innovation, along with countries like Bulgaria, Latvia and Lithuania, with a level 50 pc under the EU average,” Dobrescu mentioned. The government official also warned that it is very important for Romania to revise, by mid-2013, its priorities in the sectors that generate competitiveness, in order to include them in the budget for 2014-2020. “As an example, if we lack a strategy for the health sector, we will not be able to finance programmes in this field,” Dobrescu explained.
