Romania

Romania tops the conventional outsourcing destinations largely due to its English fluency rate of 80%.  It is the second most multilingual country in Europe. Important multinational companies have made Romania their primary partner in specialized customer care services, such as Siemens, with over 2.000 in the local workforce, and Oracle, which maintains its European development and call centers in Romania, the main one in Bucharest providing support in 13 European languages. Other multinational companies have spread out over Romania, especially since the demand for qualified resources continues to grow, such as: HP software development center, Accenture and Genpact in Cluj; IBM in Brasov; Microsoft and Wipro in Timisoara; Ubisoft in Craiova or Continental Automotive in Iasi and Sibiu; Cap Gemini and Amazon in Iasi.

Romania is ranked 5th worldwide with regard to skills in computer technical support, technical help desk, network technical support, computer electronics, telecommunications, LAN/WLAN communications, network design, ASP.NET, HTML, PHP, web development concepts and many other. Some of the Romanian software products that have gained international recognition by winning awards in the global market are the Bit Defender IT security and antivirus protection; SIVECO’s AeL eLearning platform; the Intuitext e-learning suite from Softwin; and Transart’s ERP and sales force automation solutions. Romanian companies are impressive by their skills on new technologies and offer unexpected skills in software development methodologies, a quick understanding of technical and business requirements, a high level of individual customization of software products, accompanied by diligent software quality assurance and adaptive management of projects.

According to Microsoft which acquired the Romanian Antivirus Technology, Romania’s potential in information technology is attributed to its excellent Romanian students, researchers and entrepreneurs, as well as its western-oriented culture and the high educational degree of its youth bringing Romania forward as a huge potential market

Such growth of software outsourcing in Romania is further caused by a number of factors:

• Support of the Romanian Government. The Government launched a program promoting construction of IT-oriented technology parks – special zones that have an established infrastructure and enjoy a favorable tax and customs regime. An
• The presence of global technology corporations such as Intel, Motorola, Sun Microsystems, Boeing, Nokia and others, which have intensified their software development activities and opened their R&D centers in Romania.
• Highly qualified, cost-effective human resources have greatly contributed to Romania’s main competitive advantage in software development

Currently, about 25,000 software professionals work in the industry and almost 1/5 of them are involved in software export activities. Oracle aims to help push Romania into becoming the Silicon Valley of Central and Eastern Europe.

With an IT market that has a labor force of 120,000 specialists in, Romania needs to fuel its fast development in this field by training another 180,000 IT specialists and by 2020, the industry’s needs is predicted to increase to at least 300,000 IT specialists. The need for experts in the market can be addressed in a number of ways:

• At least 50% growth in the number of school places at national level must be calibrated function of the specialization degrees. Universities must be encouraged to support the fast growth of school places in the field of computers and IT. For instance, the license and master’s graduates from faculties with an IT profile will most likely be recruited by software companies and IT departments of large companies that offer specialized positions. The supplementary demand, which includes positions with average specialization, can be covered via professional reconversion and attracting graduates from other faculties to the IT field through accelerated classes with international certification
• Involvement of companies in the educational process is essential. Universities must collaborate with the private environment towards the creation of a fund, which will support valuable young people with modest means, who, even though they are admitted into the faculty, refuse to occupy the tax places due to the lack of financial means. This will ensure that talents are not wasted but rather developed for the benefit of the software industry

Romania is a year-round destination with a temperate-continental climate with temperatures varying all throughout the year. It has four distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Spring is from March-May, summer is from June-August, autumn is from September-November and wintertime is from December-January. Winters and summers can be both extreme with temperatures reaching negative 1.5 degrees Celsius in January, and 69 degrees Celsius in August.

Romania holidays and events range from pop concerts and traditional folk events with music and dance to movies festivals and village celebrations such as Sambra Oilor, celebrated when the flocks are brought down from the mountains to winter in the valleys. Halloween is an all-time favorite, even although Dracula is now one of its main highlights.

Other Religious Celebrations

The Orthodox Christian and Western-Roman Catholic patronal feast day or ‘name day’ are celebrated in each place’s patron saint’s day, according to the Calendar of saints.

The largest holidays for Muslims in Romania are Eid ul-Fitr. This is celebrated immediately after the end of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha which is celebrated at the conclusion of the Hajj.

Diwali (Festival of Light) is one of the biggest holidays observed by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs who reside in Romania.

Jews who live in Romania celebrate several festivals: the Passover (Spring Feasts of Pesach) and Shavuot, the Rosh Hashanah (beginning of the Year), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Sukkot (Tabernacles), and Shemini Atzeret

**The First and Second day of Easter – not fix date;

**The First and Second day of Rusalii – not fix date;

**15th August – St. Mary’s Day

**30th November – St. Andrew’s Day

**2-day holidays for each of the two annual religious festivals for people of other religions than Christians

Normal office hours for company employees in both public and private organizations’ are from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Shops are typically open every day from 9am to 10pm.

Banks:
Banks are usually open 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday.
Some banks are also open on Saturday from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM

Stores:

Specialty stores (handicraft / gift / souvenir) in downtown area are usually open from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Malls and superstores are open until 9:00 PM or even later.

Time Zone

GMT/UTC +2

UTC +3h

Daylight Saving Time (DST) changes do not necessarily occur on the same date every year

Note:

• Citizens of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most European countriesdo not need an entry visa to visit Romania, for stays up to 90 (ninety) days, accumulated during a single visit – or multiple visits – within a six-month period
• For stays longer than 90 days visitors need to need to apply for a temporary residence permit (either before arriving into Romania or at least 30 days before the 90-day “no visa” stay expires)
• Citizens of the countries of the European Union can enter Romania with a valid passport or with their National Identity Card
• There is no Entry or Departure Tax
• Citizens of certain countries and territories need a visa to visit Romania

Requirements:

• A valid passport is required for all overseas/ non-EU visitors. It must be valid for at least three months after the estimated day of exit from Member State territory (In justifiable cases of emergency, this obligation may be removed)
• Documents must have been issued within the last 10 years (documents issued prior to 2003 will not be accepted)
• Romanian entry visa or a residence permit, issued in accordance with the provisions or any authorization that grants the holder the right of transit or of stay on the territory of Romania
• Documents that justify the purpose of the trip, the conditions of stay and that prove the existence of appropriate means of support for the entire stay, as well as for the return to the country of origin, or for the transit towards another country where you are allowed entry
• The entry in the country of destination, as well as leaving the territory of Romania must be guaranteed, in the case of third-state citizens who transit the national territory
• You do not belong to the category of third-state citizens who are refused entry on the territory of Romania, or have not been registered as undesirable
• Alerts with regard to the refusal of entry are not registered on your name in the Schengen Information System
• You do not represent a hazard to national security, order or health.

Visa Processing Fees

Romania’s currency is Leu (plural “Lei” – pronunciation: lay)
Abbreviation: RON

1 Leu (RON)= 100 bani

1 Leu (RON)= 0.25 USD/ 1USD=3.95 Leu

Foreign currencies may be exchanged at banks or authorized exchange offices (called: casa de schimb or birou de schimb valutar). International airports and larger hotels also offer currency exchange services.

The currency (Lei) is not readily available abroad, so tourists may have their leftover RON converted at banks before leaving Romania

The Romanian language (limba romana) is Latin-based adopted when the Roman Empire occupied the area. It is of the Romance language similar to Italian, French and Spanish. Hungarian and German languages are also spoken as the native tongue in some towns and villages in various parts of Transylvania. Many Romanians also speak English and French very well in the bigger town and cities.

Romanian is actually easier for English speakers to understand because it is a phonetic language so words are pronounced as they are spelled.