114 Investment Guide for Southeast Europe 2004 Romania I Economic overview 1 1 General economic indicators 1997 252 925 7 11 218 2 6 1 1998 73 798 2 16 611 2 4 8 1999 545 730 2 24 300 0 1 2 2000 803 773 1 35 826 4 2 1 2001 1 167 242 8 52 089 5 5 7 2002 1 512 256 6 69 695 7 4 9 154 8 59 1 45 8 45 7 34 5 22 5 8 9 10 4 11 8 10 5 8 8 8 1 Minimal monthly gross salary ROL Average monthly gross salary ROL 250 000 846 450 350 000 1 357 132 450 000 2 222 369 1 000 000 3 975 929 1 400 000 4 282 622 1 750 000 5 452 097 Gross external debt stock USD mln Exchange rate of ROL for 1 USD end of year 8 584 3 8 023 9 322 6 10 951 8 770 7 18 255 10 273 4 25 926 11 924 5 31 597 15 084 0 33 500 1 2 3 Indicators GDP ROL bln GDP per capita ROL 000 Real GDP growth rate 4 Annual inflation rate 5 Annual unemployment rate 6 7 8 9 Source National Bank of Romania 1 2 Foreign trade 1 2 1 Foreign trade regime and major regulations During the past few years there has been export and import liberalization and Romania has enforced the agreements concluded within WTO 1 2 2 Customs regime export and import quota and license system tariffs The exports and imports of goods from and into the customs territory of Romania are liberalised The Import Customs Tariff and the Customs Code Law No 141 1997 are the main trade policy instrument used by Romania Customs duties are applied on an ad valorem basis The Import Customs Tariff is based on the customs classification and denomination set up by the Harmonised System at an eight digit level The fee paid to the customs authority for using the automatic processing system of the customs clearance form has been reduced from Euro 12 to Euro 8 Export licensing is used only for a few products and operations Since 1 January 1998 Romania has no quantitative restrictions regarding exports and there are no articles banned for export Automatic export licensing has been applied in 1999 only to 511 tariff lines out of a total of 10 587 tariff lines for the following products a few raw materials products containing precious metals and stones oil and petroleum products iron and steel products for countries other than EU member states The export of iron and steel products to the EU countries is subject to an ECSC type of export license within the double checking system agreed with the EU According to the schedule of customs duties reductions between Romania and the EU the Ministry of Economy and Commerce issues annually Orders regarding the import of products coming from the EU as part of tariff quotas At present there are only a few categories of goods that need a license in accordance with the international agreements Import and export licenses are used for the following categories of goods Goods under quantitative restrictions which are subject to the control regime according to Romania s international commitments For entering into counter trade operations or for being registered in clearing barter or co operation accounts a specific form of import and or export license is required These licenses are to be used for banking purposes only The licensing regime for those categories has been improved and adapted to the international requirements as the period for analysing the licenses has been reduced and their content simplified 1 2 3 Exports and imports Trade volume 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 USD bln 8 3 2001 2002 Exports 8 1 8 4 8 5 10 4 11 4 13 9 Imports 11 4 11 3 11 8 10 4 13 1 15 6 17 9 Source National Institute for Statistics 1 2 4 Major trade partners The top 10 import partners in 2002 have been Italy 20 7 Germany 14 8 Russian Federation 7 2 France 6 4 United Kingdom 3 8 Hungary 3 6 Austria 3 3 Turkey 3 1 USA 3 0 and the Netherlands 2 2 These countries have accounted for 68 1 of all Romanian imports The top 10 export partners in 2002 have been Italy 25 0 Germany 15 6 France 7 6 United Kingdom 5 8 USA 4 3 Turkey 4 2 Netherlands 3 1 Hungary 3 1 Austria 3 0 and Greece 2 8 These countries have accounted for 74 5 of all Romanian exports Investment Guide for Southeast Europe 2004 Romania 1 2 5 Structure of foreign trade by regions 1 2 6 Structure of foreign trade by commodities Source National Institute of Statistics Source National Institute of Statistics Source National Institute of Statistics Source National Institute of Statistics 115 116 Investment Guide for Southeast Europe 2004 Romania 1 2 7 Major bilateral and multilateral trade agreements Besides being a member of the WTO Romania has concluded an Association Agreement with the European Union a Free Trade Agreement with EFTA countries CEFTA Agreement and free trade agreements with Israel Moldova Turkey Lithuania Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia There has been an extension by USA on a permanent basis of the MFN clause an extension of the preferential trade regime granted to Romania by the Russian Federation Belarus and Kazakhstan Applicable are granted facilities to Romanian export products by USA Canada Australia Japan and New Zealand as part of the Generalised System of Preferences 1 2 8 Free trade zones The legal framework setting up the activities of the Free Trade Zones is represented by Law No 84 1992 concerning the regime of the free zones in Romania Law No 345 2002 regarding VAT Law No 414 2002 regarding the profit tax Government Decision No 682 1994 regarding the approval of methodology for occasioning the lands and constructions within free zones and Government Decision No 426 1991 concerning the establishment of the Free Zones Agency The incentives offered by the Romanian legislation are Imported products with a view to their being exported are exonerated from customs duties as well as Romanian materials and accessories that enter free trade zones to be used for goods manufacturing and the goods used in constructions repairs and maintenance of free trade zones Goods that come from a free trade zone and are bound for another Romanian free zone therefore transiting a Romanian customs territory benefit from the same exoneration Foreign companies may transfer their profit under the provisions of the Romanian law with the guarantee of the foreign investment in Romania The payment of the value added tax is exempted for goods deposited in the free zones on condition that they do not lead to use or final consumption inside the free zones Salaries of the personnel working in free trade zones may be paid in the national currency or in a foreign currency or both as agreed by the parties Only financial operations performed during
View Full Document
Unlocking...