Nicolae VASILESCU, President of the Romania-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Institutional Blockages at FERM 2025: “Without Real State Involvement, Foreign Investments Will Bypass Romania”
100 economic opportunities for the development of the Moldova Region on the A7 Highway route
With the central theme “European Models for Attracting Foreign Investments in Local Administration”,
Panel 1 – “Strategic Investments in the Greater Moldova Region” at the
Moldova Regional Economic Forum 2025 (FERM 2025)
offered a clear and pragmatic analysis of Moldova’s real chances in the global competition for capital.
Nicolae Vasilescu, President of the Romania–China Chamber of Commerce and Industry, spoke candidly about institutional blockages, missed lessons, and current opportunities. The debate was complemented by Ion Ștefanovici, President of CAPDR, who emphasized the need for a coherent vision and the creation of a real collaboration framework for direct investments in the region.
A forum with regional and international relevance
FERM 2025 is a strategic framework for dialogue between public administration, investors, academia, NGOs, and international partners, dedicated to the economic, social, and infrastructure development of the Moldova Region. With participants from Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, EU countries, the Western Balkans, the Middle East, and Asia, the forum aims to transform Moldova into a competitive regional hub through the MoldovaHUB initiative – a platform for collaboration, digitization, and capital attraction.
In this context, Panel 1 addressed one of the most sensitive and essential directions: how can we concretely attract foreign direct investments in the Greater Moldova Region?
Nicolae Vasilescu: “If you lean on us, you’ll fall. It’s the state that convinces investors.”
In a particularly blunt intervention, Nicolae Vasilescu highlighted a systematically ignored reality: without active state involvement, and without clear and predictable policies, Romania constantly misses investment opportunities.
“If you rely, as you said, on us – the business environment – to make things happen, I’m telling you now: you’ll fall. Because we are not the decisive factor. Companies look first at the state, not at business associations or chambers of commerce.”
He strongly criticized the disappearance of the institutional infrastructure for investment promotion, citing the case of ARICE, now a marginal office with no power or vision. Furthermore, the public-private partnership law – although adopted – remains inoperative due to the lack of enforcement norms for years.
“No government has been able to issue implementing regulations. It’s a dead law. And ARICE no longer exists as a relevant institution. You can’t attract foreign capital with only declarative political will.”
Romania – Champion of institutional apathy, but with real entrepreneurial potential
Vasilescu pointed out that although Romania was an attractive investment destination until 2023 (ranked 2nd in the region after Poland), most of these investments were brought in by Romanian companies, without government support.
“The Romanian state didn’t help those who brought in investments. Everything was achieved because companies in Romania – big or small – looked for partners. Not through a national strategy.”
This makes the role of local administration essential. Moldova, he says, has an advantage:
“In Moldova, county councils and town halls are more open than in other regions. There’s interest, dialogue, and initiative. It’s fertile ground, but it needs to be built with patience and real support tools.”
Success stories: Cluj, Bihor… and Bulgaria
In a comparative tone, Vasilescu brought up positive examples from Bihor and Cluj, where local administrations – led by Ilie Bolojan and Emil Boc – managed to create ecosystems favorable to Chinese capital:
“Bihor has four industrial parks filled with Chinese companies. In Cluj, Mr. Boc participates every year in the 16+1 events in Ningbo. There is real dialogue and continuity.”
On the flip side, he mentioned the missed investment by Great Wall Motors, which intended to build an electric car factory in Brașov:
“After waiting three days at the Intercontinental to be received by the Government, the Chinese left. In Bulgaria, they were welcomed by the president and prime minister. Today, the factory is being built in Ruse, 70 km from our border.”
Ion Ștefanovici: “We have huge potential, but we must build from scratch. We didn’t even have a working group for investments.”
Adding to the discussion, CAPDR President Ion Ștefanovici advocated for a gradual but firm construction of a regional investment framework:
“There has never been, since 1990, a working group for attracting investments in Moldova. That’s what we want to build now. It’s a start. But it must be done carefully, professionally, not hastily.”
Ștefanovici emphasized that the region needs confidence in its potential, along with replicable external models:
“I started studying models. I didn’t just wake up today on this stage. I graduated in International Economic Relations in 2004, with a thesis on foreign investment. But no one ever put me to work in this field. Now we want to build the foundation for foreign direct investment.”
Conclusion: Moldova can become a development hub – but only through administrative will, vision, and genuine partnerships
Panel 1 at FERM 2025 shed light not only on the harsh realities of Romania’s investment climate, but also on the real opportunities of the Greater Moldova Region, if functional institutions and solid partnerships are built, and if local administrations act as catalysts for change.
From European models applied locally to economic diplomacy lessons from Asia, the debate proved that attracting capital is not an accident, but the result of strategic, persistent, and realistic effort.
FERM 2025 remains a regional benchmark for dialogue, offering Moldova a credible and solid platform for repositioning on the international investment map.
