Romania was also visited by Christoph Miller of VDW (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association) and Hartwig von Saß, Deutsche Messe AG, on their EMO World Tour. At the press conference in Bucharest, the two met the journalist Mihai Mateescu from Electricianul Magazine. He was particularly interested in the digitization of the machine tool industry and the technological development at the EMO Hannover 2017. He wants to investigate this in September at the fair itself.

Romanian economy remains on a growth path

The Romanian economy is on the right track. Drivers are private consumption and investment. Consumption benefits from reductions in sales taxes, increases in salaries, a rise of the minimum wage, low fuel prices and interest rates. According to expert opinion, fundamental infrastructure improvements and increased competitiveness of the domestic industry must now follow to prevent the effect from fading and having to cover the entire demand by imports. For the Romanian government, therefore, the sustainability of the financial policy, a further improvement in the general conditions and business climate, accelerated structural reforms and a more efficient use of EU funds are on the agenda.

For 2017, the EU Commission forecasts an economic growth of 3.9 per cent for Romania. Gross fixed capital formation is expected to increase by 6.4 percent. Romania has a diversified industrial structure with manufacturers of metal structures, non-ferrous metals, transportation, food and beverage industry, electrical engineering and many more. The backbone is the automotive and automotive parts industry with the two domestic producers Dacia and Ford.

Romania attracts foreign investment because of its comparatively low wage level. If the country wants to shift from competition of price to one of quality, however, it is imperative to invest in modern machine tools. To date, Romania has imported 90 percent of its machine tool needs. In the past, machines worth 232 million euros were imported according to VDW World Statistics. The most important supplier is Germany with a share of almost 40 percent, followed by Italy, France, Turkey and Spain.

In 2016 German exports to Romania amounted to 117 million euros. This corresponds to a decline of 13 percent. Parts and accessories as well as a wide range of technologies, mainly grinding machines, lathes and machining centers were delivered.

"The EMO Hannover 2017 is the best platform for informing about new products and solutions for industrial production," says Christoph Miller from VDW. Machine tool manufacturers from 42 countries, including all important suppliers for the Romanian industry, present their production technology from simple, robust and economical to high-tech and high-priced segments. Stand-alone machines are presented as well as linked systems, transfer lines and large machines, equipped with a high degree of automation. "EMO Hannover is not only the ideal platform for large investors," explains Miller. "In particular, we would like to encourage small and medium-sized machine tool users to get a detailed insight into the world of metal processing." In 2013 nearly 500 Romanian trade visitors came to Hanover.

Romania also produces machine tools. 2016 the production amounted to an estimated worth of 64 million euros, according to VDW world statistics. More than 60 per cent are exported, almost one-fifth to the most important market Germany. In 2016, the Romanians mainly supplied parts and accessories valued at 17 million euros. This corresponds to an increase of 36 percent. Therefore, Romanian manufacturers of components are well advised to use the EMO Hannover 2017 to present themselves to the world market. So far, four Romanian manufacturers have registered.

Photo: VDW