A silent shift: Romania surprises and inspires

Anyone walking through Craiova today can see it immediately: Eastern Europe is on the move. Countries such as Poland and Romania are rapidly closing the gap in terms of prosperity. Poland has already overtaken Greece and Portugal, and Romania is close behind and expected to follow within a few years. The outlook is clear: this growth will continue over the next five years.

Anyone walking through Craiova today can see it immediately: Eastern Europe is on the move. Countries such as Poland and Romania are rapidly closing the gap in terms of prosperity. Poland has already overtaken Greece and Portugal, and Romania is close behind and expected to follow within a few years. The outlook is clear: this growth will continue over the next five years.

Prosperity is, of course, a broad concept. A commonly used metric is PPP (Purchasing Power Parity), and a lighter variant is the well-known Big Mac Index. This hamburger is, as we know, a highly standardised product sold in an enormous number of countries, making it a useful reference for comparing real purchasing power across currencies. Anyone visiting Romania will notice that growth is visible not only in economic indicators but also in daily life. Restaurants and construction sites are operating at full capacity, supported by migrant workers from Asia who help address local labour shortages. Ten years ago, this would have been unthinkable. Today, you order in English in a restaurant in Craiova and see companies investing in mechanisation and automation to increase productivity.

This momentum, in my view, is strongly driven by a young, highly educated population with a solid work ethic. I have always experienced the commitment of our NetRom employees as exceptional and highly positive. Commitment brings loyalty and the readiness to go the extra mile when needed. And perhaps most importantly, it creates an environment in which academically trained, long-term employees apply their expertise and problem-solving capabilities for the benefit of the NetRom organisation and its clients. This creates energy and confidence—not only for us but equally for our customers.

What continues to strike me is how often first-time visitors to Romania are genuinely surprised by what they find. The modern NetRom campus, the professionalism of our people, and the dynamism of a country determined to move forward. My prediction? Within one generation, Romania will reach a level of prosperity comparable to that of the Netherlands.

And how fortunate it is that through NetRom and the Dutch Romanian Network (DRN), we are not merely observers but active participants in this quiet revolution. A small contribution, perhaps, but one that helps strengthen the bridge between the Netherlands and Romania.