BiH Contractors get stuck in crisis

While a majority of sectors in the economy of BH are finding their way out of economic recession, one way or the other, construction has found itself in a prolonged crisis with no end in sight, representatives of the industry and experts warn.

Although reasons are numerous, construction companies blame the government the most, for not doing anything in the past two years to encourage investments in this area. In the first half of 2010, the value of construction work in BH decreased by 28.3 per cent y/y. According to official statistical data, the value of construction work done abroad fell by 23.3 per cent y/y.

At the same time, the number of finished apartments increased by 42.5 per cent. The unwritten rule that the sector which felt economic crisis first should also be the first to start recovering from it is not happening in our case, a firm complained. In BH, unlike in some neighbouring markets, there are no subsidies for home developments for the young, nor subsidies in collaboration with banks.

News source: Limun.hr link: article

CCIR: Conference about investment opportunities in Romania

Romania is offering many investment possibilities in the field of infrastructure, rural development, tourism and environment. Italy is one of the countries interested in that and one of the main countries entering the local market, HE Mario Cospito, the Ambassador of Italy in Bucharest declared on Tuesday at a press conference.

Romania’s Chamber of Trade and Industry (CCIR), the Union of bilateral Chambers of Trade and Industry in Romania (UCCIBR) and the Italian Chamber of Trade for Romania organized a conference of Thursday on “Opportunities of Regional Investments: infrastructure, rural development, tourism and environment. New tendencies in Romanian-Italian cooperation.”

The event focused mainly on the consolidation of economic and bilateral commercial relations and the presentation of investment opportunities. The conference intended to offer investors the possibility to better know medium and long term projects from the portfolio of Romanian authorities.Italian investors were among the first to enter the Romanian market from the west, which was more accessible from the geographical point of view. Arad and Timisoara are cities with the highest number of Italian firms (about 4,000), followed by Bucharest (3,300 firms) Bihor county (1,000), Cluj (700) and Brasov (500), said Nicolae Bacanu, vice-president of Romania’s National Chamber and president of CCI Arad. After the conclusion of the initial stage when anybody could set up a company, now it time to go to an economy of small entrepreneurs, according to the Italian model, Bacanu said. In his opinion, the agricultural field presents great potential for Romanian-Italian partnerships and an “interesting food industry” might appear.

News source: Actmedia link: article

Romanian authorities allot EUR400M in company incentives

Romanian authorities decided to allot EUR292.6 million for small and medium-sized companies and large firms, and EUR100 million for the renewable energy segment, out of the sectorial operational program "Increase of Economic Competitiveness," the Economy Ministry announced Monday.

Thus, SMEs were alloted EUR195 million, while large companies were alloted EUR97.5 million. The money will be used for upgrades, standardization, competitiveness and consultancy. Renewable energy projects were alloted EUR100 million, money coming from energy efficiency operations and interconnection.

News source: Actmedia link: article

Business investment rate up to 20.4% in the euro area and 19.9% in the EU27

In the second quarter of 2010, in both the euro area (EA16) and the EU27, the seasonally adjusted business investment rate and profit share grew compared with the previous quarter. In the euro area, stocks remained almost unchanged after five quarters of destocking.

These data come from a detailed set of quarterly European sector accounts released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, and the European Central Bank (ECB).

Business investment rate up in both zones, but still at low levels. In the second quarter of 2010, the seasonally adjusted gross investment rate of non-financial corporations was 19.9% in the EU27, compared with 19.6% in the first quarter of 2010. In the euro area, the investment rate was 20.4% in the second quarter of 2010, compared with 20.1% in the previous quarter.

In the euro area, the gross investment rate of non-financial corporations increased due to gross fixed capital formation (investment) increasing faster (+2.7%) than value added (+1.2%). Stocks of materials, supplies and finished goods remained almost unchanged after five quarters of destocking (see table 2). Business profit share continues to recover in both zones

In the EU27, the gross profit share6 of non-financial corporations was 37.7% in the second quarter of 2010, compared with 37.2% in the first quarter of 2010. In the euro area, the profit share was 38.3% in the second quarter of 2010, compared with 38.0% in the previous quarter.

News source: Eurostat link: article