FPIAR’s Romania Executive Summary was created with the aim of providing Italian companies with a concise yet structured tool for assessing the country’s economic, competitive, and social environment.
In an international context marked by growing geopolitical complexity, macroeconomic volatility, and structural transformations across European markets, it is essential to have analytical tools capable of integrating quantitative data and qualitative assessments in order to support decisions on investment, industrial establishment, and commercial development.
Introduction by President Giulio Bertola
The Romania Executive Summary was created with the aim of providing a structured and comparable reading of the main factors affecting competitiveness: stability, human capital, the financial system, infrastructure, innovation, energy sustainability, and economic relations. It is not merely a matter of analysing macroeconomic data, but of understanding how these variables concretely influence the ability of Italian companies to create value, invest, and grow.
The analysis for Q1 2026 assigns Romania an overall score of 68 out of 100, placing the country in a medium-high competitiveness range within the context of Central and Eastern Europe. This result reflects a solid and dynamic economic ecosystem, albeit one still marked by structural criticalities that require attention and strategic vision.
Through this tool, we aim to provide the business community with a clear, rigorous, and decision-oriented framework, in the belief that competitiveness is not a given, but the outcome of conscious, informed, and strategic choices.
After more than twenty-five years of direct experience in Romania and a leading role within the economic and relational fabric between our two countries, I have come to understand that competitiveness does not depend solely on costs or available incentives, but on the overall quality of the ecosystem in which companies operate. Regulatory stability, institutional reliability, qualified human capital, and innovation capacity are just as decisive as short-term economic conditions.
Over time, Romania has demonstrated a significant ability to evolve and adapt, strengthening its position as an industrial and manufacturing platform integrated into the European economic space. However, the challenges related to infrastructure modernisation, the strengthening of the education system, and the technological transition require a long-term strategic vision.
With this Executive Summary, we aim to provide an interpretative tool that is objective yet action-oriented, capable of supporting Italian companies in their decisions on growth, investment, and competitive consolidation.
Executive Summary Romania
Q1 2026
Information note
For each area, quantitative indicators from authoritative national and international statistical sources are used, including:
- World Bank (Political Stability Index, Logistics Performance Index)
- OECD (Country Risk Classification, educational indicators, and PISA)
- Eurostat (labour market, R&D, energy, trade)
- INS Romania (macroeconomic data, wages, construction, tourism)
- National Bank of Romania – BNR (inflation, banking system, foreign direct investment)
- ISTAT (Italy–Romania trade exchange)
- European Commission (DESI – Digital Economy and Society Index)
The indicators are selected according to criteria of economic relevance, international comparability, periodic updating, and the methodological robustness of the sources.
The collected data are normalised on a 1–100 scale in order to enable the construction of the FPIAR Monitor, which provides a comparable synthesis of the country’s performance across the various dimensions analysed.
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Il Monitor viene inviato ai soci trimestralmente
