$Unique_ID{bob00445}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Romania
Doing Business with the New Romania}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Donald E. deKieffer}
$Affiliation{Embassy of Romania, Washington DC}
$Subject{romania
book

}
$Date{1990}
$Log{}
Title:       Romania
Book:        Doing Business with the New Romania
Author:      Donald E. deKieffer
Affiliation: Embassy of Romania, Washington DC
Date:        1990

Doing Business with the New Romania

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

     In writing this book, I have been greatly assisted by friends, new and
old, in the United States and in Romania. First, I would like to thank my
friend, Mugur Isarescu, for proposing the idea of revising my earlier book on
the same subject, and for providing help and encouragement throughout. The
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania-particularly its Director, Dr.
Aurel Ghibutiu and its Manager of Foreign Relations, Ms. Liliana Deac-deserves
thanks for hosting me and my associate in Romania, arranging meetings with
newly-appointed economic and trade officials and offering helpful comments and
corrections to the manuscript. I would be remiss if I did not also acknowledge
the invaluable assistance of those newly-appointed Romanian government
officials, who graciously agreed to meet with us during what must have been a
busy and hectic time for them. The information gleaned from those interviews
was essential to the completeness and accuracy of this book. Finally, I would
like to thank Ambassador Virgil Constantinescu for his insight, advice and
encouragement.

     Donald deKieffer is a senior partner in the firm of Pillsbury Madison Sutro
Lillick & McHose. From the firm's Washington office he advises and assists
American and foreign clients on trade matters. Born in Newport, Rhode Island in
1945, he received his law degree from Georgetown University. He served on the
Senate Republican Policy Committee before entering private practice and
completed a three-year stint as General Counsel to the U.S. Trade Representative
before accepting his present position. He has been involved in extensive
dealings with Romania in recent years.

INTRODUCTION

     Romania is one of the least understood countries in what is now referred
to as "Central Europe." This is not surprising given the rigorous isolation
enforced by the Communist regimes for over 40 years. Unlike some other
countries in the ancien Warsaw Pact, Romania's break with the past was sudden
and cathartic. The revolution of December 1989 was not presaged by a gradual
assimilation of Western ideas, but thrust Romania from a Stalinist
dictatorship to a free market within a matter of weeks.

     This transition has, at times, been rocky. The country simply did not
have the institutions to deal with the demands of a capitalist economy. Even
such fundamentals as consumer banking were rudimentary under the Ceausescu
regime. The country's infrastructure was also in shambles after four decades
of statist "planning."

     Nevertheless, Romania emerged from the revolution with a surplus in its
current accounts, a favorable balance of trade, and 26 million trained
workers. The market for Western goods is virtually untapped and the country is
poised for an economic "takeoff" which could be one of the most robust in the
world.

     This book attempts to describe to foreigners how to take best advantage
of Romania's potential as a market and as a source for products. In every
country in which massive change has occurred there will be risks; this volume
describes methods of minimizing them in a country whose potential is almost
unlimited for enterprising business executives.