Josef Karl Pelikan, Special Representative for Europe and Central Asia, UNIDO: Romania’s private sector has a competitive advantage in several industrial sectors, including automotive, food and beverages, electronics, machinery, chemicals, rubber and plastics.
♦“In this context, Romania can play a key role in supporting the broader development of Eastern Europe by sharing know-how, supporting improvements in digital infrastructure and building partnerships that will develop the region’s digital economy landscape.”
Connecting the IT&C sector with manufacturing can increase Eastern Europe’s competitiveness, facilitating integration into regional and global value chains, and Romania can play a key role in this process, says Josef Karl Pelikan, Director of the Division of Regional Offices and Field Coordination, Special Representative for Europe and Central Asia, UNIDO.
“Connecting the IT&C sector with regional manufacturing can increase Eastern Europe’s industrial competitiveness, facilitating better integration into regional and global value chains. In this context, Romania can play a key role in supporting the broader development of Eastern Europe by sharing know-how, supporting improvements in digital infrastructure and building partnerships that will develop the region’s digital economy landscape. The highly skilled and cost-competitive workforce puts the region in an ideal position to develop knowledge-intensive services and modern export-oriented production models,” Josef Karl Pelikan told ZF.
UNIDO, an acronym for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, is the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, a specialized agency of the UN that promotes sustainable and inclusive industrial development, with the aim of reducing poverty, boosting economic productivity and encouraging the efficient and sustainable use of resources.
The UNIDO representative cites the UNIDO 2024 industrial development report, which states that, since the early 2000s, the Romanian Government has focused on developing the information and communications technology sector through a strategy to promote it, with the objective of positioning Romania as a digital hub in Europe.
“Today, this sector contributes significantly to the growth of the gross domestic product, supporting a vibrant digital economy that attracts foreign direct investment from multinational companies such as Oracle, IBM and Amazon, and also develops globally competitive Romanian companies, such as UiPath and Bitdefender,” Pelikan detailed.
He also says that, for UNIDO, innovation is essential to respond to complex regional and global challenges and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Romania’s experience demonstrates that innovation is a strong driver of competitiveness in Eastern Europe, with the potential to transfer this unique expertise across the region. The digital transition offers a strategic path for industrial advancement, by creating jobs and supporting the modernization of industries.”
Josef Karl Pelikan believes that UNIDO can play a crucial role in supporting Romania to promote sustainable industrial development and to have a significant impact in Eastern Europe.
“Romania, with its extensive experience in the transition to European Union membership, is well positioned to contribute to regional development programs. Through UNIDO initiatives, Romania can support neighboring countries, such as the Republic of Moldova, in the process of aligning national frameworks and industrial processes with the requirements of the Community acquis, by sharing good practices and providing technical expertise in areas such as industrial policy, building innovation ecosystems, environmental management and the circular economy.”
In addition, he highlighted that UNIDO and the Government of Romania are currently discussing the possibility of establishing the UNIDO Regional Cooperation Centre in Bucharest, which would strengthen regional collaboration, serving as a hub for the delivery of UNIDO services.
“The centre would leverage Romania’s cutting-edge technologies and expertise to support industrial development across the region. The UNIDO regional conference organised in June 2024 in collaboration with Cleantech Days demonstrated Romania’s leadership in industrial innovation, with participants from the country and the region exchanging good practices in climate action and sectoral engagement.