OFA campaigns for legislative framework and specific regulations to support gender and opportunities equality in all fields of activity, promoting the entrepreneurial culture to change society’s perceptions towards women entrepreneurs and improving women’s access to all necessary resources for starting and developing a business.
Starting from a series of specific proposals regarding the consolidation and development of Romanian entrepreneurship in general, and female entrepreneurship in particular, recently sent to the executive, the Organization of Women Entrepreneurs in Romania (OFA) participated yesterday, August 9, 2023, in a meeting work initiated by the Government of Romania, also considering the perspective of Romania’s accession to the OECD – Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The meeting was managed by Roxana Mînzatu, Secretary of State, Coordinator of the Department for Integrated Evaluation and Monitoring of Programs Financed from Public and European Funds.
The meeting was attended by a series of members of the Government: Natalia Intotero – Minister of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities; Elena Tudor, President of the National Authority for the Protection of Children’s Rights and Adoption; Luca Niculescu – Secretary of State within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Coordinator for Romania’s accession process to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); Cristian Vasilcoiu – Secretary of State within the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity; Casian Nițulescu – Secretary of State within the Ministry of Energy; Lucian Ioan Rus – Secretary of State within the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism; directors from the Ministry of Investments and European Projects, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The OFA delegation was composed of: Mirabela Miron – president of the patronage; Ana-Maria Icătoiu – vice-president, coordinator of the Sources of financing for investment and research – development – innovation Department; Marinela Strîmbulescu – president of the OFA Gorj branch, non-refundable financing expert; Liliana Marinescu – OFA vice-president for the South-East Region, expert in the field of agriculture and farmers’ associations; Mioara Iofciulescu – vice-president, coordinator of the OFA partnership network, expert in real estate project development and electricity production from renewable sources; Anișoara Radu – president of the OFA Tulcea branch, entrepreneurial development expert; Florentina Mănăilă – president of the OFA Buzău branch, expert in the field of continuous professional training for adults.
Referring to the development of the national strategy for female entrepreneurship, Mirabela Miron, the president of OFA, presented an extensive document containing specific proposals of the patronage meant to generate an inclusive and fair business environment in Romania, in which female entrepreneurs are encouraged, supported and valued, campaigning for a legislative framework and specific regulations to support gender and opportunities equality in all fields of activity, promoting the entrepreneurial culture to change society’s perceptions towards women entrepreneurs and improving women’s access to all necessary resources for starting and developing a business.
OFA also presented a series of measures, and actions to support female entrepreneurship, with emphasis on the development of bank financing programs for female entrepreneurs; specialized education and training; assistance for accessing international markets; founding support centres for female entrepreneurship; promoting gender equality in the corporate sector; facilitating access to technology and innovation or inclusion in rural areas.
The representatives of relevant ministries present at the meeting showed their availability to establish working groups together with the OFA team of experts to develop the presented ideas and implement them into valuable projects that will become a real support for the development of female entrepreneurship in Romania.
A focal point of the meeting was the discussion about the financing sources being implemented or prepared to be launched for the private sector: Cohesion Policy 2014-2020, respectively 2021-2027; the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR); The National Strategic Plan for the Implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy (PNS PAC); the state aid schemes coordinated by the Ministries of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism (Construct Plus), respectively Agriculture (Invest Alim) or Finance (HG 907, HG 332), and the financing programs managed by the Ministry of Energy (Fund for Modernisation, Electric Up).
Ana-Maria Icătoiu, OFA vice-president, showed that, although the good intention must be recognized, “many calls for projects are launched almost simultaneously on several Programs (Regional, Just Transition, etc.), which cause difficulties to the entrepreneurs related to preparing and submitting valuable projects with a real increased value effect in the economy because professional consultants will be overloaded, will appear low-quality projects, written in-house, or inexperienced consulting firms will be involved just to meet this sudden need. There are very high chances of implementation blockages, or even low uptake. Real transparency from the public system is needed to regain the confidence of entrepreneurs, lost especially in the last 4-5 years.”
The OFA representatives presented several measures that can be taken by the ministries in charge and, respectively, the management authorities responsible for non-refundable European financing in such a way that the approximately 80 billion euros that Romania has available for the period 2021-2027 (even 2029) to be absorbed at the highest possible level through valuable projects, which are really useful to Romania. Among these proposals, there is also the one stipulating that, between the moment of publication of the final version of the applicants’ guides (together with the scoring grids) and the moment of the actual opening of the project calls, there should be a duration of at least 60 calendar days, so that applicants will have enough time to prepare their quality funding applications.
After the plenary meeting, the OFA delegation participated in a bilateral meeting with the State Secretary Roxana Mînzatu. Mirabela Miron, the president of OFA, reconfirmed the firm interest of the Organization of Women Entrepreneurs to have a constructive cooperation with members of the government team, showing that their expert teams are already prepared with proposals and specific solutions to a multitude of topics of great interest for the future economy of Romania.
The Organization of Women Entrepreneurs from Romania is a patronage with over 700 members, women entrepreneurs from Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Croatia, and Great Britain. Through its mission, OFA has been contributing for more than 3 years to increasing the importance of women’s role in the development of Romanian society by supporting and promoting women entrepreneurs and business initiatives that generate innovative products and services. The activity and ongoing projects can be discovered on the website: www.ofa.ugir.ro.
Press contact: Ana-Maria Icătoiu, Vice-President
+40 741 058 423, anamaria.icatoiu@gmail.com.