The Road to Trade Winds Europe/Eurasia: Bucharest, Romania
January 9, 2024
Laura Gimenez is ITA’s Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest
This is the 2nd post in a blog series about the different markets that will be featured during Trade Winds Europe/Eurasia.
Trade Winds, the U.S. government’s largest annual trade mission, is only four months away! In May, hundreds of U.S. companies will gather with foreign buyers, investors and distributors to explore international sales opportunities in Europe and Eurasia, including an optional stop in Bucharest, Romania between May 9-10, 2024.
Located on the Black Sea, Romania sits at the nexus of Europe, Eurasia and the Middle East and offers opportunities for U.S. businesses in a variety of sectors. Furthermore, our commercial relationship is on the rise—over the past decade, total U.S.-Romania trade has almost doubled, reaching over $5.1 billion in 2022.
A member of the European Union (EU), Romania has access to the EU’s Cohesion Fund, which aims to strengthen certain EU Member States’ social and economic integration into the EU. In particular, these funds contribute to investment in infrastructure, energy, healthcare and IT systems—all of which present opportunities for U.S. exporters exploring the Romanian market.
In light of Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine and Romania’s need to meet its renewable energy objectives, Romania also seeks to increase its independence and security in both the energy and agribusiness sectors. The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation are interested in financing projects across many sectors in Romania, with particular attention to energy.
Romania is also a strong North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally, spending approximately 2.5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense in 2023. Last year, the International Trade Administration brought 23 U.S. defense and aerospace exporters to Romania for a two-day trade mission, during which nearly 300 tailored business-to-business and business-to-government meetings took place. Needless to say, there is strong demand in the Romanian market for innovative U.S.-made defense solutions.
In addition, Romania is an information technology leader in Europe, with the highest number of certified IT specialists per capita on the continent, according to the Romanian National Institute of Statistics. The country is a hub for tech business and innovation, with the sector in Romania having quadrupled its size in both revenue and workforce over the past several years.
For all these reasons and more, it is no surprise that Romania was selected as a mission stop for the Trade Winds Europe/Eurasia on May 9-10, 2024. For more information and registration for Trade Winds Business Forum in Istanbul, May 13-15, and other mission stops in Italy, Poland, Türkiye, Denmark and/or Kazakhstan, please visit the Trade Winds Europe/Eurasia webpage.