The British Romanian Chamber of Commerce and the Romanian Embassy in the United Kingdom, together with the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce will host a conference entitled “New Horizons for UK – Romania Trade and Investment – 2nd edition” on the 17th of November in London at Romanian Cultural Institute.
Bogdan Mihailescu, Minister Counsellor for Commercial and Economic Affairs at the Romanian Embassy in the United Kingdom, together with Colin Lovering, Chairman of BRCC will open the event.
The conference explores new investment opportunities in Romania while showcasing mutual best practices to enable and encourage business links between the UK and Romania, with a big focus on technology and innovation.
The half-day conference aims at achieving new business links and knowledge sharing, where interested investors, entrepreneurs and actors in both markets set up share business ideas and collaborations. Join us to learn more about organizations’ best practices and hear from industry leaders on how to explore new innovative ways to do business in both UK and Romania.
The BRCC draws on its 24 years of experience and brings together its business acumen and expertise of the members’ network, both in Romania and in the UK, and leverages the strong strategic partnerships it has built across British Chambers of Commerce, media partners and private and public sectors. Our aim is to give UK businesses a deeper understanding of the support available to help them succeed as well as showcase some of the successful stories in Romania. We aim to bring together business leaders from both UK and Romania to share insight and best practices in their respective fields with the scope of creating a dialogue and attracting Investment.
Join us in person at this forthcoming conference in London for a stimulating debate and informative discussion with C-suite executives and policymakers from Romania and UK.
The event is made possible with the kind support of: Trafalgar Strategy and Repatriot.
08:30 – 9:00 – Welcome coffee & registration of participants
09.00 – 09.15 – Opening Remarks
09:15 – 10:30 – PANEL I (Why invest in Romania now- Unlocking emerging trade opportunities in the investment landscape of 2022 and beyond). With an increase of over 21% in foreign direct investment in H1 2022 compared to the same period of 2021 and with the number of new companies with foreign capital also increasing by more than 35 percent during the first six months of this year, Romania has a lot to offer to foreign investors – topics that will be addressed:
- Attracting investments in Romania in the new geo-political landscape: growth opportunities to attract foreign companies on the market
- Excellent conditions for green and sustainable investments in order to combat climate change and achieve the net zero goal
- Financial & State Aid. Available grants of up to 60% of the investment value to stimulate greenfield investments.
- How Romania approaches the energy crisis – as one of the least dependent EU countries on energy imports and a leader in production of green energy, Romania is a safe harbour for investors
- Top domains and regions most attractive for investors
- Perspective of Romanian Investment in the UK
Moderator:
Bogdan Mihailescu – Minister Counsellor for Commercial and Economic Affairs at the Romanian Embassy in the United Kingdom
Mr. Bogdan Mihailescu is Minister Counsellor and Head of the Economic and Commercial Department within the Embassy of Romania to the United Kingdom, a position he has held since April 2020. In this role he deals with the development of trade relations between the 2 countries, the support of Romanian companies in expanding their business on the UK market as well as the channeling of British investments in Romania.
Previously he was the personal adviser to the Minister for Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship, having been delegated to coordinate the public financing programs for SMEs. He was also involved in InvestRomania, a department within the Ministry for Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship – the Government’s leading body in promoting and facilitating foreign direct investments in Romania.
Mr. Mihailescu has a vast experience in private sector and entrepreneurship, having held top management positions in large companies such as Oracle Romania and SAP Romania from 1996 to 2007, as well as working as a business entrepreneur for more than 10 years in the IT&C sector.
During 2009, he was the President of the Governmental Agency in charge of the development and implementation of the National Strategy for Digital Agenda.
Speakers:
Simina Tulbure – Member of the Romanian Parliament
I am a Member of the Romanian Parliament, elected as the first female representative of Romanians living abroad. As a forward thinking polyglot, I performed within the challenging environment of European Investment Bank and European Parliament. I am a graduate of University of Essex, where I majored in English Language and Linguistics and discovered my passion for volunteering, having been endowed the most prestigious awards for my outstanding contribution to volunteering. I returned to Romania to renew Romanian politics through honesty, involvement, and collaboration. I am the chair of the UK-Romania friendship group, a member of the education committee, the committee for Romanians abroad and the sustainable development subcommittee, fighting for gender parity and youth policy.
Alexandru Mitroi – Senior Adviser at InvestRomania
With a 20 years of experience in Foreign Direct Investment attraction in private and public environment, Mr. Mitroi is presently Senior Adviser with InvestRomania for the past 10 years. On this position he advised international investors in various industries ranging from Automotive, Aerospace or Agribusiness to IT, Outsourcing of Business Services and Energy.
In this position he promoted Romania as an attractive location for investment, working with local authorities and other stakeholders that are also very important part of this process. Succesfully advised investors that decided for Romania, such as Clariant (Craiova) , B.Braun (Timisoara), Sogefi (Oradea), Sonaca, Estee Lauder IT center (Bucharest), CRF Health (Iasi), Nokian (Oradea) and many others.
Previous to that, he worked as Business Development Manager for an industrial developer in Romania, working mostly on automotive projects. Graduate from the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, with a degree in Business Administration (English-French department).
Mihai Precup – Secretary of State within the Ministry of Finance
Mihai Precup is Secretary of State within the Ministry of Finance. He is responsible for the relationship with International Financial Institutions, the management of state participations and the public investment management division. Mihai was the partner and member of the Investment Committee of the private equity fund Progressio Capital Partners in Bucharest. Mihai is an experienced investment and development banker, with a robust career in Luxembourg and France. For 5 years, he was lecturer at the University of Panthéon-Sorbonne Paris 1, where he taught multiple topics: private equity, shadow banking, wealth funds, speculative bubbles, banking and financial crises, the Eurozone crisis, and the ECB’s monetary policy. Mihai holds a BA in Finance at the Academy of Economic Studies and a Master as well as a PhD in Private Equity at University of Panthéon-Sorbonne Paris 1. He has worked as an investment banker for some of the most prestigious institutions in France and globally. For several years, he served as the advisor to the Vice-President of a key European financial institution, focusing on Southeast Europe (Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, and FYROM). In this capacity, he has endorsed deals in excess of $10B to support infrastructure development and other key projects. He has extensive ties to the financial and business world at the EU-level and beyond, and he is passionate about Romania’s long-term development.
Bogdan Pletea – Senior Advisor at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Currently, Bogdan Pletea is working as Senior Advisor of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development – WBCSD, helping organisations to better understand the impact of ESG factors and providing pragmatic solutions to integrate them in decision making and strategi planning. Bogdan has an extensive expertise in management consulting, risk management and strategy, gained in over 20 years of international practice in the UK, Spain, Austria and Romania, in energy, tourism, insurance and banking sector. He is a member of the Institute for Risk Management (IRM) in London, has an international degree in Risk Management and has completed an MBA program at the International Institute of Management in Paris. He is also vice-president of climate change special interest group (SIG) of IRM London, an organization that published in September 2021 its first climate risk management guide designed to support boards of directors and risk managers in all sectors of activity.
Peter Latos – Head of Consulting, Strategy and Transactions at EY Romania
A seasoned M&A adviser, Peter Latos has more than 20 years of experience advising clients on transactions in various geographies such as UK, Brazil, Russia and more recently Ukraine. Peter has broad sector experience, including energy, technology and media, and consumer goods. He also brings experience of leading multidisciplinary teams and significant business transformation projects. Peter successfully led a combined consulting and transactions business in Central Eastern Europe, launching multiple new service lines, doubling the team in 3 years time. In his previous organization, he launched a data & analytics practice in Russia, and implemented the firm’s global alliance with Microsoft in Russia and Ukraine. He is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, has a Postgraduate Certificate in International Business from the University of Edinburgh and graduated with a Master of Business Administration degree from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées School of International Management in Paris, where he was awarded with a distinction for Advanced Strategic Management and Mergers & Acquisitions.
10.30 – 11.00 – Coffee Break and Networking
11.00 – 12.00 PANEL II (Going global and do business international – UK & Romania). Facing an energy crisis, with high transportation costs and supply instability caused by the current political situation, it is strategic to redefine commercial partnerships between countries and companies and to sourcing from nearshore in order to secure supply chains and resilience to changes, many of which are difficult to anticipate – topics that will be addressed
- Trade opportunities between UK & RO. What ingredients need to be added for the UK and Romania to boost trade to reach its full potential?
- New trade corridors for supply chain efficiency and lower costs – accessing the EU market from the East
- Is Romania ready to become a regional logistics hub for British companies to access the EU market, Ukraine and the Balkans?
- Case studies from companies doing international business between UK and Romania
12.00 – 12.30 – Coffee Break and Networking
Moderator:
Alina Popescu – Founding Partner at MPR Partners
Private practice counsel specializing in EU and Competition Law, Technology, Mergers&Acquisitions and Arbitration. Co-founder and co-managing partner of leading independent law firm with offices in Bucharest and London.
Accolades: Lexology Client Choice Award Competition 2021 and 2020, finalist in the European Managing Partner of the Year category at The Lawyer European Awards 2021, Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, Best Lawyers International.
“In particular this MP [Alina Popescu] stands out in finding new opportunities in times of potential adversity; seeing the next levels of strategic importance and attracting talent to deliver on that. Here we have someone running ahead and taking the rest of the firm along. Great leadership instead of just keeping the boat afloat.” Source: Judges of The Lawyer European Awards (2021)
“Co-head Alina Popescu brings vast experience in corporate, commercial and M&A matters & in competition matters pertaining to M&A and commercial transactions and related arbitration.(…)” Source: Chambers and Partners – Corporate/M&A (2021).
Speakers:
Giles Kenningham – Founder at Trafalgar Strategy
Giles Kenningham MBE is a former Head of Press at Number 10 Downing Street and spokesman to the Prime Minister. He was the Director of Communications for the Conservative Party’s general election win in 2015 leading a team of 40 people. Prior to this he was a special adviser/ press secretary to the Secretary of State for Communities, Local Government and Housing. He started his career as a journalist in national radio reporting on business and consumer issues for a variety of stations including Classic and Magic FM. He is a former ITV News producer having worked for 3 years on their three main flagship programmes. Giles regularly appears as a political and media commentator on BBC, Sky & CNN. He also writes for a variety of national publications including the Times and Spectator.
Marius Bostan – Initiator of the RePatriot project
Marius Bostan has started several companies, is a serial and capital market investor and has extensive managerial experience as a member of various boards of directors of companies, funds and non-profit organizations. He was on the board of the Romanian Social Development Fund, founder and President of FNTM, co-founder of VMB Partners, pioneer of municipal bonds and has brought through his contribution smart financing for development, which has generated significant savings to local budgets. He has led several projects that have promoted modern business culture in Romania and is involved in several civic projects. Marius Bostan is a member of Romanian Business Leaders and is the initiator of the RePatriot project. Marius is currently developing several entrepreneurial companies, where he is a Partner, among which we list the following: Bostrust, Voss Review, CBN IT, Getika&Innovation, Dositracker, FrontierConnect, NanoTech Paint, EuroDataPark, TrufArt, Pasterra, Newsweek Romania. As the Minister of Communications and Information Society, in the government of professionals led by Dacian Ciolos, he has remained consistent with the same ideals he has always believed in: the path given by the tradition of over 2000 years of our civilization, freedom, democracy and market economy and has acted for the development of communications and information society in Romania.
Malin Geanovu – Business Development Manager at Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Group
Malin is the Business Development Manager for International trade at Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Group and is a specialist in the Import-Export field, an International Business graduate and holds a Level 5 Credit Diploma in Advanced Customs Compliance. With years of experience gathered working for Chambers of Commerce in the UK, Malin specialised in International Trade and provides support to companies regarding customs compliance, expansion into new territories and representation at both a national and international level. He has helped deliver a variety of projects relating to the UK exit from the EU, design and delivery of trade related events, collaborates with institutions around the world, and works on Business Development and Inward Investment projects. The most recent project for which Malin is responsible, “Romania Desk”, is one for the development of partnerships and exchanges between British and Romanian companies, with support from the highest level both in Great Britain and in Romania.
Alina Balatchi-Lupascu – PR & Marketing Manager at AQUA Carpatica
Alina Balatchi-Lupascu is the PR & Marketing Manager for UK & Ireland for the iconic, award-winning natural mineral water AQUA Carpatica, which is sourced from Romania and is now the third fastest growing brand in the category in UK. Alina is a strategic and commercial CMO with substantial experience across all marketing disciplines and evidence of delivering revenue and profit targets for scale outs. Alina has been successful implementing projects across a range of sectors (b2c, b2b and b2b2c) and has a focus on building great teams, developing talent and ensuring that marketing strategy is directly linked to commercial success. Linked to her name are some unique entrepreneurial initiatives: she created and launched the first digital application for a diaspora community – myRO (a startup that identified the need for ethnic diaspora dynamics, connecting Romanians in over 75 countries). With a passion for communication, ethnic dynamics and community, she is constantly on the lookout for game changing ideas and uses insight to find innovative ways to connect with the target audience, whilst challenging all to think differently: challenge conventions and create strategies that drive engagement, build preference and deliver success. Alina is the co-founder of the NGO Romanian Women in the UK and was awarded with the Order Of Cultural Merit in rank of Knight by the Romanian Presidency.
Dan Schwartz – Co-founder and Leading Partner of RSM Romania
Dan Schwartz is the co-founder and the leading partner of RSM Romania, one of the most reputed professional services companies in Romania. Dan is a certified Tax Adviser, Financial Auditor, and a Romanian CPA, and he specializes in Transfer Pricing and International Taxation. He has an in-depth understanding of the Romanian business environment, having experienced first-hand, as an entrepreneur, the challenges of sustainability, scalability, and stability. He has honed his expertise as a tax adviser and as a business leader through education programs completed at HIID-Harvard University, Washington State University, George Washington University, and the Paris Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers.
12:30 – 13:30 PANEL III (Technology, innovation and transition to green – essential elements to address global challenges, access financing, increase competitiveness and stay in the game) – topics that will be addressed:
- Act now, or risk getting left behind
- How to make the right technology investments: Opportunities & Challenges that key players are facing
- How ready is the startup ecosystem in Romania to attract VC investments from the UK? With the largest number of unicorns in Europe, does UK represent the main test for a European startup to conquer global markets.
- Transition to Net Zero. What is Romania doing and what are the opportunities for companies with innovative technologies in the field of decarbonization/circular economy/energy efficiency
- Investments in joint research projects, innovation and technology transfer – the key to the development of new solutions and the corresponding demand on the market. Case study: the 3D Project (Decarbonization of Danube Delta)
Moderator:
Bogdan Fireteanu – Managing Partner for EMEA at Crowd Favorite
Bogdan is the Managing Partner for EMEA at Crowd Favorite. With over 20 years in the digital world, Bogdan’s career has spanned roles like senior software developer, art director, IT manager, web consultant and development chief at some of the leading agencies around the globe, as well as some Fortune 500 companies. Bogdan has been working with Open Source technologies over the past 12 years, and since 2014 has represented Crowd Favorite’s active involvement in growing the community in Romania, as both a lead organizer and supporter for various conferences and meetups.
Speakers:
Cristina Crețu – Senior Technology and Data Protection Consultant at MPR Partners
Cristina Crețu is a seasoned technology law and data protection expert, with over 16 years of experience in the TMT sector. She has worked with the Romanian telecom regulatory authority (ANCOM), has been a regulatory expert with Deutsche Telekom’s Romanian subsidiary as well as a regulatory manager and data protection officer with Liberty Global in Romania, and is now a Senior Technology and Data Protection Consultant with MPR Partners’ Bucharest and London offices. Cristina is also a Vice Chair of the American-Romanian Chamber of Commerce’s Data Protection Task Force, she co-heads the firm’s task force on the Romanian National Council for Digital Transformation and is part of the European Data Protection Board ”Support Pool of Experts” List. Further information about Cristina is available here.
Dr Delia G Dimitriu – Research Fellow at Manchester Metropolitan University
Dr Delia G Dimitriu, a Romanian national and British citizen is a world-renowned expert on decarbonising transport & cities, and assessing the associated environmental impacts. She is involved in developing strategies and shaping programmes and projects at local, regional and international level. Addressing aspects of policy, research and practice, Delia is seeking for joint innovative solutions to be scaled up and taste market responsiveness towards green jobs creation.
Iulian Popescu – Entrepreneur, former State Counsellor in IT&C at the Prime Minister’s Chancellery and former State Secretary at the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization
Iulian Popescu is a graduate of the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, Faculty of Automatics and Computers, Computer Science. Between 2003-2021 he was an entrepreneur in the IT sector, from 2021 he accepted the proposal to enter the public administration. From February 2021 to August 2022 he was State Counsellor in IT&C at the Prime Minister’s Chancellery and State Secretary at the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization.
13.30 – 15.00 – Networking Drinks
Speakers and additional details to be announced soon. If you are interested to attend or become a partner at the event, kindly send an e-mail to anna.nastase@brcconline.eu
The event is free of charge. As we are only allowed to welcome a limited number of participants, reservations are allocated in the order in which they are received. Please be aware, that only registered participants can be admitted. So, please let us know if you can attend by registering below until the 14th of November. Limited availability, members are prioritized.
Partners:
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