The Foreign Investors Council is an association of the leading foreign investors in Romania established in 1997.
FIC started officially its activity with 26 companies as members. Today FIC accounts about 110 companies. The membership includes multinational firms providing the Romanian economy with a wide variety of goods and services. Currently, the FIC has 110 Members whose combined investment in Romania exceeds 11 billion euros, representing approximately two thirds of Romania's total foreign direct investment since 1990 and 60,000 jobs for Romanian people.
Dialogue
The FIC has established important lines of communication with the Government, Members of Parliament, the Agency for Foreign Investment and other institutions, both national and international, providing a platform for effective communication. The FIC's recommendations which are in the best interests of the entire business community, including both foreign and domestic investors, are increasingly incorporated into new legislation and policy.
The FIC is well positioned to provide constructive input to policy makers given the breadth of its membership, both in terms of their international experience and their substantial investment in Romania.
Services and Products
Lobby.
Since its establishment, FIC has succeeded to promote dialogue and communication with each of the Governments appointed after 1997.
Every time when the issues of common concern were addressed to the Prime Minster and to the responsible Ministers, FIC provides the experience and the expertise of its members for working jointly with Government experts in improving the situation.
The senior management of the member companies devotes its time individually or in work groups, proposing solutions to the decision makers. We have produced five "White Books", setting out detailed improvements which we felt were needed in the business and investment climate, based on research and debate by our members. We have elaborated on our proposals in discussions with the Government.
The Government has already taken FIC's recommendations into consideration:
We have contributed to policy formation, for example through participation in discussions and high levels forum about the medium term economic strategy.
We have commented on fiscal issues, both publicly and in detailed submissions to the authorities.
We have contributed to foster foreign investment in Romania and have given advice to potential investors.
We have made proposals on specific issues relating to the business environment, covering areas such as: Rule of Law, Taxation, Banking and Capital Markets, Corporate Governance, Flexibility of the Labour Market
Members of the FIC task forces) meet regularly with senior government officials to lobby for positive change. Increasingly, the Government of Romania seeks the FIC's comments on draft legislation and regulations.
White Book. The FIC publishes a White Book every two years, which provides a comprehensive overview of Romania's investment climate and specific recommendations for improving the business environment. The White Book has helped to build the reputation of the FIC as a serious and effective lobbying organisation whose observations are accurate and whose recommendations are reasoned and sound. The White Book enjoys a high profile both within Romania and internationally.
In February 2005 the fourth edition of the White Book was launched. It is comprised of seven chapters: (1) Rule of Law; (2) Taxation; (3) Labour Market Flexibility; (4) Banking; (5) Corporate Governance and Capital Markets; (6) Environment; and (7) Corruption.
The White Book is the product of several FIC task forces, usually led by a board member with the participation of volunteers from Member companies. Senior managers of the FIC's Member companies meet within the task forces to discuss issues that are important to Romania's business environment. They propose recommendations for improvement based on their international experience, which often includes familiarity with emerging markets.
Working Groups.
The activity of the FIC is carried out through 8 working groups (either standing committees or task forces) addressing issues of concern identified by our Members. The purpose of these groups is to create an enabling environment for discussions, to agree on actions on issues of common concern and to join efforts in solving the legislative and bureaucratic problems faced by all businesses. The working groups are: (a) Rule of Law (b) Taxation; (c) Corporate Governance; (d) Labor Market Flexibility (e) Banking and Capital Markets; (f) Environment; (g) Corruption and (h) ERT/Business implication of EU convergence;
Daily Newsletter. The Members receive a daily press brief summarizing the most important economic, financial, banking, investment and legislative news of the current day.
Weekly News Front. The FIC News Front is a weekly bulletin of the FIC's activity permitting Members to be kept informed on the activity of the FIC's Board of Directors, the working groups and the executive staff.
Website (www.fic.ro). The FIC's website provides our Members the opportunity to follow the topics addressed by the working groups. The FIC's website hosts "presentation websites" for all of our Members.
