EXPO REAL, Day 1: Hundreds of cities and regions search for investors. Where is Romania?
EXPO REAL, the second most important Real Estate exhibition in Europe, after MIPIM, opened its gates today to more than 1.600 exhibitors and over 30.000 visitors from 35 countries (according to its organizers).
Following my company's… tradition, we are here this year as well, in order to promote Romania and the investments in this part of the world.
Things are not very impressive this year, continuing the trend of 2009 and 2010. Most people are skeptical, opting for careful moves after studying every parameter of the investment. Also as the world continues being in crisis, they find many opportunities back home, no reasons for them to search in the Balkans.
Of course there are also some investors for us as well, but I will meet more of them during the following 2 days. Today I would like to share with you my happiness for the fact that Romania is such a… rich country! Why do I say that? Simple: Almost one third of the exhibition is occupied by stands from municipalities and regions.
Tens, hundreds of areas all around the world came here to promote their location as the best one for investors.
They have impressive stands, carefully prepared projects, solutions to any problem you might think of. Are they perfect? No, there are problems everywhere. But at the end of the day, they are here, like in many other exhibitions, promoting their country, their place. All kinds of investments are available there: Industrial, retail, office, residential, even… "eco cities" I found.
But Romania is not here. Probably we are rich enough and we do not need many new investors. Also there is no available budget and all our resources are invested in the best possible way. So maybe people know something more than we do. Maybe "it is better to let the others lose their time, pay their money and stay all day in a stand, waiting for investors. We know better. If they are interested, they should come over here…"
In the past I tried to convince some authorities to participate at this kind of events. I declare that I am still at their disposal in the future as well. Why? Because it is always better for the investors to hear your strategy and advantages directly from you and not from anyone else. Most of the regions here don’t have even half of the advantages / potential that Romania has. But in order for the investors to take this into consideration, someone should come here and inform them accordingly…
PS: I do not belong to any political party and my articles are not meant to send any hidden political message or suggestion.