March 8 (SeeNews) - The number of new businesses with foreign capital established in January in Romania inched up by 0.4% year-on-year, reaching 481, official data showed.
The foreign capital of the new companies increased by 28.1% to $2.96 million (2.72 million euro) in the review period, according to data published by the Trade Office Registry, ONRC, on Wednesday.
Most of the new companies established in January are active in wholesale and retail trade, car and motorcycle repairs (25.6%), professional, administrative, scientific, and technical services (19.1%), as well as transport, storage and communications (16.4%).
Companies in the mining and manufacturing industry accounted for 72.3% of the share capital of all foreign-owned companies established in January, while those in the construction sector represented 15%.
At the end of January, Romania tallied 251,707 foreign-owned companies with a cumulative capital of $70.092 billion. Italian investors led the way with 52,818 companies. However, despite only tallying 6,098 entities or 2.4% of the total, Dutch investment topped the list by share capital, accounting for $13.02 billion, or approximately 20% of the aggregate.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Romania fell 34% on the year in 2023, to 6.587 billion euro, according to data from the country’s central bank.
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.