Romania And WTO Hosting International Entrepreneurship Conference In Geneva
Why Romania Is An Attractive Prospect For Startup SMEs
Romania’s term as Presidency of the Council of the EU will help to put this nation on Europe’s entrepreneurial map.
The Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship Ministry (MMACA) has released a statement announcing that an international entrepreneurship conference will be held in Geneva in early 2019. The event will be jointly hosted by Romania and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), as has been agreed by Stefan-Radu Oprea – the Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship minister, along with Roberto Carvalho de Azevedo.
Start-Up Nation
The event coincides with Romania taking over the Presidency of the Council of the EU for its six-month stint from January to June of next year. Romania is heavily invested in supporting entrepreneurs, and has been running its Start-Up Nation programme throughout 2018. The aim has been to encourage the formation and development of SMEs, to boost their success whilst creating new employment opportunities and investing in new tech projects. Finance has been available to entrepreneurs as an incentive to commit to establishing their own businesses.
Goals Of The Conference
The values of Start-Up Nation will be echoed in next year’s Geneva-based conference which will be focused on entrepreneurial debut, eCommerce and assistive tech for small to medium enterprises. However, another main theme will be the evolution of the international trade system across the EU and how Romania will oversee its modernisation during the term in presidency.
Romania has long been involved in world trade, and is a founding member of the WTO, which was formed in 1995. The nation was key in the negotiation process with the WTO before it officially joined the EU in 2007 and adopted its standard trade policy.
Setting Up In Romania
Romania is an attractive prospect for those who are looking to start-up a new venture overseas. Due to the low living costs associated with being based here, and affordable labour, it doesn’t take much to get your business up and running, particularly if you’re an EU citizen as it’s easy to obtain residency. Internet is cheap, costing around EUR 10 per month for a 1 GB speed and up to EUR 12 for 15GB of mobile data. This means that everyone from digital nomads to tech startups can profit from being based either in the hub of Bucharest or outside of the capital.
In terms of tax, Romania is extremely generous to SMEs – those with a turnover of less than EUR1 million, can enjoy a tax rate of just 3%, where the standard flat rate is 16%. If you’re willing to employ a local Romanian worker as part of your operations, then you can enjoy a further tax break of 1-3%.
Of course, those who prefer a more international business, can take advantage of having a base in Romania whilst keeping some of your existing operations back in the UK. In terms of shipping your product lines, you can organise part loads to Romania as groupage to cut down on costs where you don’t have the need as a start-up to fill an entire freight order.
Romania is well-placed in Eastern Europe to offer an advantageous start to SMEs who are looking to make their mark within European industry. The participation of the nation along with the WTO in next year’s Geneva-based conference will really help to put Romania on the map as a serious base for entrepreneurialism.