Nearly 53.000 entrepreneurs from 28 European countries contributed to the 27th edition of the EUROCHAMBRES Economic Survey. The respondents are less optimistic this year and identified a range of challenges for 2020.
The results reveal domestic demand and a lack of skilled workers as the main concerns of European businesses. Europe’s slowdown in GDP growth is starting to affect the purchase power of consumers and, therefore, European businesses expect a decrease in their revenue from national sales. Moreover, Europe’s competitiveness is undermined by a pan-European skills crisis that must be addressed through an ambitious and coordinated pan-European response.
What else do Romanian entrepreneurs say? That they remain cautious about export sales, that the increasing prices of energy and raw materials are acutely felt in our country.
What I found very interesting about the perception of Romanian Entrepreneur is that they are very pessimistic regarding the level of investments.
Respondents were asked if they expect their level of investments to increase, remain constant or decrease in 2020.
EES2020 shows a further reduction, which brings the level of forecasted investments back to the values of 2015 , similarly to the Employment Index. Nevertheless, despite the reduction, a higher share of respondents still foresee a year on year increase in level of investments or parity.
Overall, Portugal, Montenegro, Poland, Bulgaria and Malta are the markets where the highest investment increase is expected for 2020. Conversely, many central and eastern European countries, in particular Slovakia, Romania, Germany and Austria register less optimistic expectations.
Public institutions must listen to the concerns of Romanian companies. All businesses face interlinked challenges, so we need to work together towards common solutions if we are to achieve sustainable economic growth.
