Romania has the chance to increase its economic competitiveness in a relatively short time, if it will focus on accelerating digitalization and convergence towards a technology-based economy. The digital economy could account for at least 20% of GDP in 2030, with an increase of around 50 billion euro in Gross Domestic Product. The data appear in a study launched by experts from FACTORY 4.0 and Frames.

Significant economic development over the last 20 years, based on exports, foreign investment, relatively cheap labor and especially consumption, is likely to become a disadvantage in the coming years, in the context of significant changes in the world economy.

“The COVID 19 pandemic has restarted the way economic activities are perceived. In the context of this spring’s economic shutdown and social distancing measures, the economic environment was practically forced to take the step towards digitalizing activity. In this context, by changing the economic paradigms, Romania has the unexpected chance to burn the stages and to grow economically significantly, through technology and digitalization,” the study data show.

According to experts, this economic reorientation is absolutely necessary, especially in the context of rising labor costs and, in general, of the crisis in the human resources market.

“The times when Romania was attractive through low labor costs are over and demographic prospects indicate an increase in problems in the HR market. Without a focus on the real development of digital skills, automation and digitalization of processes, companies, in general the Romanian economic environment, risk losing important points in terms of competitiveness, with negative economic consequences,” says Marius Hărătău, FACTORY 4.0 manager.

In 2016, the digital economy, in Romania, represented 6.9% of GDP, the equivalent of 12 billion euro, above the EEC average of 6.5%. Against the background of the economic development, the businesses in the Romanian technological sector have advanced significantly, from 26 billion lei in 2010 to 52 billion lei in 2019.

The FACTORY 4.0 & Frames study shows that, between 2016 and 2019, the Romanian digital economy registered a growth rate of almost five times faster than those of the main European economies.