Enterprise Policy Performance Assessment ROMANIA

The Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe is a political declaration and framework agreement adopted in June 1999 to encourage and strengthen cooperation among the countries of South East Europe (SEE) and to facilitate, coordinate and streamline efforts to ensure stability and economic growth in the region. (see Compact ") is a key component of the Stability Pact under Working Table II on Economic Reconstruction, Development and Cooperation. Private investment is essential to facilitate the transition to market economy structures and to underpin social and economic development. The Investment Compact promotes and supports policy reforms that aim to improve the investment climate in South East Europe and thereby encourage investment and the development of a strong private sector. The main objectives of the Investment Compact are to: – Improve the climate for business and investment. – Attract and encourage private investment. – Ensure private sector involvement in the reform process. – Instigate and monitor the implementation of reform. core principle of the Investment Compact that " ownership " of reform rests within the region itself, the Investment Compact seeks to share the long experience of OECD countries. It provides region-wide peer review and capacity building through dialogue on successful policy development and ensures monitoring of progress as well as identification of practical steps to implement reform and transition. The assessments and views expressed in this report are those of the Investment Compact Team of the OECD secretariat and of the EBRD Office of the Chief Economist and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OECD and EBRD member countries. 3 FOREWORD In all countries the government and its agencies have a fundamental lead role to play in providing an environment favourable to business operations and conducive to private investment. This is especially true for small business. Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of most economies today. In order to flourish and grow they need an environment that facilitates and enables business start-up, does not hamper them with excessive and costly regulations and facilitates access to finance and business services. In this respect there is an urgent need in South East Europe (SEE) to design and implement an effective enterprise policy, as the level of private investment still lags behind that of advanced countries. For these reasons, in 2002 the OECD and the EBRD launched the Enterprise Policy Performance Assessments (EPPAs) in the framework of the Investment Compact for …