April 4 (SeeNews) - The number of new businesses with foreign capital established in the first two months of 2024 in Romania decreased by 8.3% on the year to 1,084, data from the Trade Office Registry, ONRC, showed.
The foreign capital of the new companies edged up by 5.4% to $5.87 million (5.4 million euro) in the review period, according to data published by ONRC on Tuesday.
In February alone, 603 companies financed with foreign capital were registered in Romania, down 14.2% on the year.
Most new companies established in February were active in wholesale and retail trade, car and motorcycle repairs (25.7%), professional, administrative, scientific, and technical activities (21.1%), as well as transport, storage and communications (17.3%).
Energy and utility companies accounted for 37.7% of the share capital of foreign-owned companies established in February. Construction companies followed with a share of 28.7%, while financial brokerage and insurance companies came in third, accounting for 16%.
As of the end of February, Romania hosted 252,310 foreign-owned companies with a total capital of $70.178 billion. Italian investors held the largest number, with 52,901 companies. Despite their smaller number of 6,117 entities, Dutch investment remained at the top in terms of share capital, contributing $13.05 billion or 20% of the total aggregate.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Romania in the first month of 2024 inched down by 2.2% on the year to 583 million euro, data from the country’s central bank has shown.
The Foreign Investors Council in Romania (FIC) said in November that investor sentiment deteriorated significantly in the autumn of 2023, with only a third of surveyed investors considering the Romanian market attractive as a result of fiscal policy measures.
($=0.9206 euro)