The proposed Minister for Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Daniel Cadariu, intends to continue the Start-Up Nation program, which ended in 2020, but with minor modifications, unblock the draft Tourism Law, and provides assurances that contracts will be concluded and payments will be made starting in December under the HoReCa program designed to support the sector following the pandemic.
He specified that in the Start-Up Nation program, there are currently about 40 million RON that must be paid on existing contracts. There is still a verification that needs to be carried out by partners, namely the banks. The program was started in 2018 and ended in 2020. We want a new edition, but with minor modifications, without conditioning it on the number of employees.
Cadariu stated that within Measure 1, at the moment, 65 million EUR remained unspent from the first stage.
Regarding Measure 2, the sum of 537 million RON is necessary to cover arrears, as there was over-contracting here, and 3,000 files are pending. A sum of approximately 537 million RON is needed, which we must budget in such a way that we can make the payments.
The last program on Cadariu’s list is the HoReCa program, where, out of the over 10,000 applications submitted, 8,500 were approved and where, starting in December, contracts are already set to be concluded and payments made.
At the same time, in the tourism sector, the first priority is, in his opinion, the Tourism Law.
“There are certain targets; if I refer to tourism, the first priority from my point of view is the Tourism Law, which is currently blocked somewhere in Parliament. I hope we can re-discuss it with representatives of the tourism field, give it a final form, and have it enter into force. We consider that in Romania, the share of tourism in GDP, if we take into account the 2018 INS reports, is only 2.9%. In highly developed countries from this point of view—Greece, Spain, Italy—the share is 14%-15%. Even our neighbors to the south, the Bulgarians, have a share of 12%. Therefore, from this point of view, the Tourism Law is a main target of the ministry,” the proposed minister emphasized.
Other legislative priorities are, according to him, the Prevention Law and GEO 58/1998, which regulates activity in tourism.
Daniel Cadariu received a favorable opinion for the position of Minister of Entrepreneurship and Tourism from the specialized committees of Parliament.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will the HoReCa program payments begin?Contract signing and payments for the HoReCa support program are scheduled to commence in December.
What changes are planned for the next Start-Up Nation edition?The new edition of the program aims to remove the condition regarding the number of employees for applicants.
What is the current contribution of tourism to Romania’s GDP?Tourism currently accounts for only 2.9% of Romania’s GDP, significantly lower than neighboring countries like Bulgaria (12%) or Greece and Spain (14-15%).