On the occasion of the International Anti-corruption Day, celebrated every year on December 9th, the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania highlights that corruption remains a direct major threat to the national security and a massive systemic obstacle to the long-term development of Romania, wasting irreversible windows of opportunities and the huge unextracted potential of the country, to the detriment of its people and strategic allies.
We witness the remarkable efforts undertaken by the authorities fighting corruption, and are impressed by their professionalism and resilience. We call for extensive anti-corruption measures, acceleration of the accrued investigation cases in stalemate from the past, a consistent application of the rule of law, with no abuses, avoiding third party influences and keeping out of political reach while pushing for effective recovery of damages, prevention and remedy actions.
Corruption is distorsioning the level-playing field for honest businesses and such anti-competitive behaviors artificially inflate the cost of doing business, ruining efficiencies, killing long-term sustainable projects and wasting taxpayer money. In the absence of strategic priorities and a solid and sustainable country model, the economy is still marked by severe corruption, money laundering, tax evasion and low tax collection, as well as the lack of financing (including low level of EU funds absorbtion). This translates into compression of investment appetite for Romania, as such unpredictable environment can only cause business pressure.
AmCham Romania representatives consider that in order to attract and retain foreign investors, a stable, competitive and predictable business, political and legislative environment is essential.
Daniela Nemoianu, AmCham President stated that: „We strongly believe that the strict application of the FCPA or equivalent rules, advanced corporate governance policies, and a thorough implementation of ethics &independence tools are diligent duties of any responsible company. Equally, the legitimate expectation of businesses and citizens focuses on transparency, rule of law and accountability of public sector and politicians. AmCham promotes ethics, good corporate governance and anti-corruption standards for its members and the market.”
Anti-corruption can only reach its ultimate goals if doubled by relevant strategic development actions. Policy makers need to explore new growth paths and conduct consistent, systemic reform processes to unlock new opportunities for economic modernization. AmCham’s view is that Romania needs a long-term strategic country project focused on integrated competitiveness and value differentiators.
