OFA: The female entrepreneurship is important for strengthening the social dialogue

OFA campaigns for specific regulations to support gender and opportunities equality and considers that women involvement in all fields of activity is crucial for Romania’s healthy social and economic development.

On Monday, August 28, at the Victoria Palace, under the coordination of Roxana Mînzatu, Secretary of State within the Government, a new meeting of representative patronage organizations for female entrepreneurship in Romania took place with state advisers from the Prime Minister’s Cabinet and directors of the National Trade Registry Office.

The Organization of Women Entrepreneurs from Romania – OFA, in partnership with the National Patronage of Business Women in SMEs – PNFAIMM and the Association for the Development of Indigenous Entrepreneurship – ADDA, presented a series of proposals and measures for the promotion of patronage structures among the business environment in order to inform the entrepreneurs about the benefits of joining such an organization. A delegation of the National Confederation for Female Entrepreneurship – CONAF also participated in the meeting.

Among the significant advantages offered by associations to their members are representation of their interests before legislative bodies and decision-makers, access to information and resources, legal support and specific advice, sharing of best practices, support in crisis situations, setting industry standards or providing corporate social responsibility platforms.

In order to facilitate the information and encouragement of newly established companies or existing ones to become members of a patronal structure, the National Trade Registry Office can implement several tools, such as the development of an informational guide for registration, providing information at the single point of contact, the creation of a dedicated online portal, the running of online information campaigns, but also of offline promotion campaigns at the offices of the Trade Registry in Bucharest and in the country.

“It is important to increase the general public’s awareness about the activity of patronal type associative structures that support female entrepreneurship, their main purpose being precisely to sustain women entrepreneurs and promote the role of women in the development of Romanian society,” said Mioara Iofciulescu, Vice President OFA.

Florin Spătaru and Minel Ivașcu, State Councilors within the Prime Minister’s Chancellery, confirmed the Government’s interest in the employers’ movement and its role in the social dialogue and reiterated the support given to the development of the national strategy for female entrepreneurship and the implementation of some regulations regarding gender equality and equal opportunities between women and men, in the context of the recommendations made by the European Commission and the process of Romania’s accession to the OECD.

Regarding the classification of economic activities according to the existing CAEN codes, Elena Coandă, President of the National Patronage Association of Business Women in SMEs and Ana Maria Icătoiu, Vice-President of OFA, showed that they cover a restrictive area for certain fields of activity and are an indicator mainly in accessing European or governmental funds, a fact that prevents many economic agents from accessing governmental or European funds. To overhaul these situations, Roxana Mînzatu, the coordinator of the Department for Integrated Evaluation and Monitoring of Programs Financed from Public and European Funds, has undertaken to facilitate the dialogue between representatives of the business environment and relevant ministries, so that the beneficiaries of non-reimbursable financing can access and run projects under optimal conditions.

Among the proposals discussed by OFA representatives are the promotion of arbitration for the resolution of commercial disputes, the approval of a new occupational standard for the arbitrator profession, as well as the creation, at the national level, of multidisciplinary centres for minors and family. “In the context of the large number of cases with minors and families pending before the courts, it is necessary to create new regulations and integrated structures that support the best interests of the child and that prevent the occurrence of syncope in society, including regression and school dropout or juvenile delinquency”, argued Geta Lupu, lawyer, President of the Juvenile Justice Association.

The OFA delegation consisted of Ana Maria Icătoiu, vice-president, coordinator of the Sources of financing for investment and research – development – innovation Department; Mioara Iofciulescu – vice-president, coordinator of the OFA partnership network, legal counsel and expert in real estate project development and electricity production from renewable sources, Geta Lupu, lawyer, coordinator of the Legal Department, Florina Manea, public relations expert, founder of Ziarul News and Diana Vieru, logistic expert, coordinator of the Infrastructure Department.    

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, to supporting and promoting women entrepreneurs and, respectively, to supporting business initiatives that will generate innovative products and services.

The events and projects carried out by OFA can be found on the patronage’s website:  www.ofa.ugir.ro.