Romania doesn’t need another debate about who becomes PM. It needs a 10-year plan built on three things: technology, energy, and well-trained people.

I wrote about this because four months of a caretaker government, while the economy stagnates and people are anxious about the future, is not a strategy — it’s a pause we can’t afford. Around us, other countries are competing hard for the same investments, talent, and markets.

A few numbers that should worry us:
→ Only 30% of Romanians have basic digital skills, vs. 60%+ EU average
→ R&D investment sits at ~0.46% of GDP, vs. ~2% EU average
→ Romania ranks last in the EU on the Innovation Scoreboard

And yet we have real strengths to build on: a robust, export-driven IT industry (~€23.6B revenue in 2024, 6.67% of GDP), growing cybersecurity expertise, and a genuine edge in industrial automation and embedded software. AI is not a threat to an industry built on strong engineering skills and a proven track record of upskilling and reskilling — it’s an opportunity to boost competitiveness across sectors.

The opportunity is there. What’s missing is focus — and predictability. You can’t ask companies to invest for a decade in an environment where the rules change every quarter.

Technology. Energy. People. These should be the red thread of every governing program for the next 10 years, whoever is in charge.

My full piece (in Romanian) in the comments 👇
hashtag#Technology hashtag#Energy hashtag#People hashtag#Skills