The main products exported by Germany were textiles, clothing, electrical goods, machinery, and vehicles. In 1999 and 2000, Romania only came in sixth place, behind Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Some 9062 German firms are registered in Romania. Regrettably, an uncertain legal framework is still impeding a more rapid increase in German investment in Romania. In the age of globalization, foreign investment particularly moves to places where there are clear legal and tax rules.
German firms are open to cooperation in all sectors of the economy.
The energy sector is regarded as a priority field of cooperation. German firms are ready to undertake substantial investments in Romania and to participate in privatization. Not only the geographical size of the country and the number of its inhabitants, but also the high skills of its citizens, the natural resources of the country, the desire to join EU and the traditional friendship between the two countries offer a sound basis to develop economic relations more rapidly than has been the case. In addition to the resolute continuation of the reforms on the macroeconomic side, we believe it is also important to overcome the backlog of reforms on the microeconomic side. The German side has repeatedly presented proposals to the German-Romanian Cooperation Council on how the existing attractions of the Romanian market can be better utilized.