In its third year of economic growth, Romania was unable to attract more than one billion dollars in foreign direct investment, although the authorities were counting on $1.7 billion.
Romania's invitation to join NATO had been certain ever since the second half of 2002, with the European Union expected to confirm 2007 as an accession date. However, the two credibility guarantees failed to bring more investors to Romania.
What is to blame? The problems faced by the big international companies, but also Romania's infamously unstable legal environment, the difficult business environment, red tape and corruption.
Foreign direct investment in Romania dropped about 30% in 2002, down to 1.049 billion dollars, according to data gathered by the Trade Registry. According to the same source, 2001 had been the best year in terms of investments attracted by Romania since 1991, with more than $1.3bn.
In twelve years, the volume of foreign direct investment in Romania barely got close to nine billion dollars, almost half of what the other Central and Eastern European countries have managed to attract - Poland ($39bn), Hungary ($21.5bn), the Czech Republic ($12.5bn).
These figures speak for themselves, considering that the only criterion fit to assess a country's economic environment is the level of foreign direct investment, according to the World Bank.
"There have been certain slipups for which we have been paying in the past ten years. When investors were interested, we did not want to sell and then we managed to ruin everything in macroeconomics," says financial analyst Aurelian Dochia.
The significant foreign capital inflows in the neighbouring countries have been mainly triggered by the partial privatisation of certain public utilities, airlines or banks, which Romania is only now putting up for sale.
Despite the promotion campaign launched by the authorities in order to attract the foreign investors, no one is rushing to submit offers.
"The drop in investments is a problem, especially if it is true that the past five years' increases were mainly prompted by capital increases and not by new investments, because this would mean we do not have an expanding market," says Valentin Lazea, National Bank of Romania chief-economist.
According to Lazea, the lack of foreign investment was compensated in the payment balance last year by the money sent by the Romanians working abroad, but this capital does not have the same value as the direct investment, since this is consumption money and is not aimed at developing new technologies or creating new jobs.
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