Category: Economy
Despite Violence, Romanian opens Cultural Center
Posted Thursday, June 04, 2009 by Jhane Reifsteck
La Strada is a little piece of Romania in Rome. Adrian Nichifor opened the commerce and cultural center in March of this year—the first of its kind in Rome. The center brings Romanian products to the Romanian immigrant community in Rome, a little touch of home. Romanians can buy things ranging from Romanian groceries to wedding dresses to books . The Center is also a place for Romanian’s to gather, and where Romanian children can learn the language of their homeland. While his business appears successful, life in Italy hasn’t always been easy for Nichifor. Just this past January, a bomb was planted in his grocery store.
Nichifor believes the bomb was retaliation by Italians for the rape of an Italian girl by four Romanian boys. He believes that the chance of more violence is low. Sometimes, it seems Romanians are second class citizens in Italy.
Nichifor is one of the two million Romanians living and working in Italy. He immigrated to Italy from Bucharest, where his parents currently reside. He believes that opening a business is his destiny and that being an immigrant is just part of his life, and the lives of the other millions of Romanians that emigrate out of the country. He plans to return to Romania one day.
Capitalism at Work in Bucharest
Posted Wednesday, May 27, 2009 by Bruce Harrison
A couple prepares to open a travel agency in downtown Bucharest. It is yet another sign of people’s faith and hope in a capitalistic economy in this formerly communist nation.
Iliyanan Ivanova and her husband Miximnco Ovidiu don’t speak the same language. She’s Bulgarian and he’s Romanian, so they use English to communicate and work together in the travel industry.
For over a week, they have been working 12 hour days renovating their property on Smardan Street in downtown Bucharest. Ivanova said it’s hard to find space in the city to open a business.
“They are very expensive and valuable properties,” she said.
Under communism travel agencies didn’t develop a tradition like other businesses in Romania. Ivanova said it’s a new business of the last twenty years and it still needs time to improve and develop. This spurs competition among agencies, even the smaller ones. But you can make it in the travel industry in Romania.
“It’s all about experience, politics, connections, and taking an individual approach to the industry,” Ivanova said.
Ivanova and Ovidiu both have experience. They own a a travel agency in Bulgaria and have worked for cruise lines. Admission into the European Union has helped make things easier for the couple as well. Ivanova said that as soon as Romania joined the European community, things started to change in a positive way. In general, growth in infrastructure and investors.
“For me the change is obvious because I’m not a Romanian,” Ivanova said. “Coming and going out of the country frequently and owning a business outside of the country, you really have the best view to see how development takes place.”
The travel agency will be open in a week with continued improvements taking place over the next month. Ivanova and Ovidiu will be working with Romanian and foreign tourists.
Hear a new business owner in Bucharest:
Hear a new business owner in Bucharest
Growing Economic Optimism in Romania
Posted Monday, May 11, 2009 by John D Paul
A University of Illinois history professor says there is a sense of economic optimism among a growing number of Romanians. Keith Hitchins specializes in the history, economics and culture of Southeastern Europe, including Romania, Hungary and Central Asia. In March, he told a class of journalism students that despite a recession, Romanians are optimistic about their future. Hitchins also said thousands of Romanians who fled the country in the last decade are beginning to return to their native country.
Prof. Keith Hitchins addresses an increasingly optimistic Romania:
Prof. Keith Hitchins addresses an increasingly optimistic Romania
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