Open letter to Mr. Mark Rutte, the Prime Minister of Netherlands
Mr. Prime Minister of the Netherlands, the Romanian business environment believes in the strong connection of our two nations, and we think that it is time for you to unlock for us the gate to Europe!
On behalf of 350 Romanian entrepreneurs from the Romanian Business Leaders community, we are writing to you, regarding your position on Romania’s accession to Schengen Area.
The Netherlands leads by far the ranking of foreign investments based on the country of origin in Romania, with 22 billion euros in 2021. In the same way that the Netherlands had helped Romania right after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Romania has welcomed with open arms more than 5,800 Dutch companies that have chosen to invest here, from the beer industry, the banking industry, agribusiness, technology, trade, shipping and many other fields, names of big companies that have chosen to invest in Romania for many years. Dutch businessmen believe that Romania is one of the best places in our region for investments, as proof that they are increasing investments from year to year.
On the other hand, we, the Romanian entrepreneurs, are also looking with great interest towards the Netherlands. We bring not only young Romanians to study, but also Romanian businesses and investment funds who have chosen your country as their residence.
Almost 90% of Romanian exports go to the European Union markets, worth about 60 billion euros, of which 85% are cars and manufactured products, transported through customs points that cannot cope. Every day in the customs from Romania to Europe there are queues of kilometers of freight cars. Their losses and the losses of the companies whose goods are transported, caused by staying for days at the border points, amount to hundreds of millions of euros.
Romania is not the perfect country, but…
– it is the country with the second highest economic growth in the European Union;
– it is the country with the third highest trust in the European Union;
– it is one of the border countries of the European Union, which, during this period of the war in Ukraine, have shown without doubt its belonging to European values;
– it is the country where organizations like Romanian Business Leaders believe in Romania and work tirelessly to make it grow.
And last but not least, Romania is the country that meets the technical conditions for joining the Schengen Area.
We, the Romanian entrepreneurs, believe that Romania is ready and deserves to enter the Schengen Area. And with us, the multinational companies and the Dutch companies, believe the same.
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About Romanian Business Leaders
Romanian Business Leaders (RBL) is the voice and vehicle of action of business leaders for the construction of a Romania in which future generations want to live. RBL’s mission is for Romania to become a better country for responsible businesses and, in this way, for all Romanians. The Foundation’s projects subscribe to the three areas that the RBL community considers important for the change and development of society: entrepreneurship, education and good governance. More at www.rbls.ro.
