Romanian entrepreneurs are increasingly interested in innovation, digitalisation and the integration of international good practices, but the competitiveness gaps from advanced economies persist, Iuliu Stocklosa, chairman of the Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIB), said on Wednesday at a specialist event.

A new event called 'Regional development and financing for SMEs in Bucharest-Ilfov', took place on Wednesday, at CCIB Palace, being organised in partnership with the Bucharest-Ilfov Regional Development Agency (ADRBI), with the aim of informing entrepreneurs in the region about the most relevant sources of funding available and digital support tools.

'In recent years, we have noticed a paradigm shift: Romanian entrepreneurs are becoming more and more proactive, more interested in innovation, digitalisation and the integration of international good practices. However, competitiveness gaps from more advanced economies persist. For that reason, the European and national funding opportunities represent a real chance for progress, a chance that we cannot afford to miss,' Stocklosa, said before the signing of a collaboration protocol with ADRBI.

'In order to use the money allocated to the business community, we must be prepared for implementation, to get to know the business community better. That is the reason why today we formalise the partnership with the Bucharest Chamber. We continue to build on a solid foundation, built in years of constant collaboration,', said Dan Nicula, general manager of ADRBI.

He invited the business community to participate, starting in September, in entrepreneurial discovery workshops and to contribute to the identification of the problems to be addressed through guides and to the finalisation of calls for projects in preparation.

During the event, Simona Curpan, head of the Regional Promotion Service within ADRBI, made an extended presentation of the new www.regiobucuresti-ilfov.ro website, a portal dedicated to the Regional Program 2021-2027, with a focus on information on funding priorities in the region and calls for projects, especially those open and in preparation, dedicated to innovation, technology transfer, digitalisation and increasing the competitiveness of companies.

On this occasion, Laurentiu Gagu spoke about the oportunitati-ue.gov.ro platform operated by the Ministry of European Investment and Projects (MIPE), providing particularly useful information on the main available funding programmes, active calls within them, information events in preparation, projects successfully implemented on various financing axes. On the portal, entrepreneurs have the opportunity to easily identify potential project partners from Romania and abroad.

Darius Voda, director at the Ministry of Economy, Digital Transformation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism (MEDAT), spoke about immmentor.ro, a platform where entrepreneurs have access to all the relevant information to develop their company, from guides for those at the beginning of their journey, funding solutions for SMEs, applicable legislation and information on the relevant bodies with which companies can interact. A marketplace also operates on the platform, where interested entrepreneurs can create an account to find potential business partners, customers or suppliers.

The interactive events organised by CCIB allow business executives to enter into dialogue with public administrations and specialists on business topics of interest. AGERPRES (RO - editing by: Cristian Anghelache; EN - writing by: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu)