Romania

Romania is located in the south east part of central Europe. The population is 21.4 million, of which 2 million live in the capital, Bucharest. The population is expected to decrease to 20.2 million by 2030. The proportion of people aged over 65 is expected to increase from 22% to 30% over the same period. The official language is Romanian, although Hungarian is spoken by a minority. The dominant religion is Orthodox. The official currency is the New Lei, worth approximately €0.23. The standard rate of VAT is 24%.

Romania has a GDP per capita of €5,800, compared to the EU average of €24,400 in 2010. According to Eurostat, the Romanian economy grew by 2.5% in 2011, and is expected to grow by 1.6% in 2012 and by 3.4% in 2013 (compared to the Eurozone average growth of 1.6%, 0.2% and 1.4% respectively). The inflation rate was 3.2% in 2011, compared to 3% in the EU. The unemployment rate was 7.3%, compared to 9.8% in the EU as a whole in 2011.

Age and position are respected in Romania. Modesty and humility are highly regarded characteristics. There is often a lot of bureaucracy attached to doing business. Meetings tend to be quite formal. Contracts function as statements of intent and decisions can be reversed.