The Foreign Investors Council Elects its Executive Officers


During its 12th General Assembly held in May, the FIC elected its new Board of Directors. At the first Board of Directors meeting on 3 June 2008, the Board elected its four Executive Officers. The newly elected executive team which will serve for the next twelve months consists of:

President Richard Moat CEO of Orange
Vice President Patrick Gelin President and General Manager of BRD Groupe Societe Generale
Vice President Mariana Gheorghe CEO of Petrom
Treasurer Gilbert Wood CEO of Hall, Dickler


The primary objective of the FIC is to foster dialogue between policy makers and investors to improve Romania's business environment and to support the process of adjustment to EU membership. The Board's primary goal is to increase the FIC's involvement and success as a lobbying organization. Although already recognized by the OECD as the most efficient lobbying organization of its kind in all of Central and Eastern Europe, the Board shall give increased consideration to the quality of its position papers and recommendations submitted to the Government. The FIC's success in achieving its objectives has validated it as a reputable partner for dialogue with decision makers.

The FIC's principal method of advancing its issues is via Task Forces involving volunteer specialists from FIC member companies. More than 150 professionals from 80 multinational companies contributed to the position papers developed by the Task Forces. This endeavor focuses on providing professional expertise and recommendations.

Each Task Force is chaired by one or two Board members who report back to the Board on the lobbying activities carried out by that task force.

The following Task Forces are currently in place:

  1. Taxation, chaired by Patrick Leonard (KPMG);
  2. Labor Market Flexibility, chaired by Veronica Savanciuc (Lowe) and Kurt Strohmayer (JW Marriott);
  3. Environment, chaired by Markus Wirth (Holcim) and Shachar Shaine (Tuborg);
  4. Corporate Governance & Legal, chaired by Gilbert Wood (Hall, Dickler) and Wilhelm Simons (PWC);
  5. Investment Legislation, chaired by Olivier Lluansi (Saint-Gobain Glass) and Patrick Leonard (KPMG);
  6. Agriculture and Regional Development, chaired by Jean Valvis (LaDorna);
  7. Energy, chaired by Mariana Gheorghe (Petrom) and Matteo Codazzi (Enel).
The Task Forces are actively involved in discussions with the executive branch of the government and, in some cases, with Parliamentary commissions. Increasingly, the Task Forces are consulted regarding draft proposals for legislation, ordinances and norms and are able to comment on them in advance of enactment, often providing useful recommendations based on the international experience of the FIC member companies.

Mr. Moat, as the new President, thanked Mr. Gelin for his outstanding contribution to the FIC during his two mandates as the FIC's President and stated that is a great honor for him to take over this position. Orange was one of the 24 founding companies that established the association back in 1997. The main themes Mr. Moat proposed for the Board to focus on were: to consolidate and expand the FIC's membership targeting the new large foreign investors in Romania, to approach new areas such as energy, to lobby the current Romanian decision makers, and to establish lines of communication with the EU especially on the allocation of available structural funds. Recently, Romania was ranked first in investment attractiveness in Central and Eastern Europe, and second in the larger region after Russia and followed by the Ukraine. This position needs to be maintained and the FIC will put efforts in this direction. Mr. Moat concluded by saying that he was looking forward to serve the association for the next 12 months.

In the future, the FIC will continue to play an important role in the dissemination of international expertise and best practice information from other EU countries.

From the FIC's perspective, the existence of a predictable, transparent and effective legal system based on the Rule of Law and the uniform enforcement of existing laws are essential to increase FDI in Romania which can improve the business environment and the sustainable economic growth of Romania.