In London, on March 22, 2026, the association ROUNIT organized an event that changed, at least for a few hours, the way the Romanian community in Great Britain sees itself. Not as emigrants, not as workers away from home, but as economic actors with a real competitive advantage over anyone else who might want to invest in Romania. The event brought forward the preliminary conclusions of a sociological study carried out in collaboration with the Cult Market Research agency — a research that analyzes the perceptions of Romanian entrepreneurs from diaspora on the success and failure of home businesses. The central message was unequivocally formulated by the organization’s vice-president, Marius Hărătău: “Diaspora is not just labor. It is capital strategic.” A short phrase, but one that condenses a paradigm shift that official Romania is slow to recognize — and that Romanians outside the borders have been feeling for a long time in their own life decisions.
Three to five years ahead of anyone else
The study shows that Romanian entrepreneurs who have lived and worked in Western markets — especially in Great Britain — and decide to invest in Romania benefit from a competitive advantage estimated at three to five years against local competitors or against foreign investors without similar experience. The explanation is simple: exposure to models of business advanced, the discipline acquired in performing economic systems and the professional networks built over time form an invisible but extremely valuable capital. Hărătău emphasized that this advantage is not automatically guaranteed — it is activated only if the entrepreneur knows how to capitalize on it, that is, if he adapts what he has learned abroad to the concrete realities of the Romanian market. Those who mechanically copied Western models without adjustments found it difficult. Those who understood that adaptation is the key they performed, according to the national press agency AGERPRES.
Among the major challenges identified in the research is access to workforce qualified — especially in the digital area —, the difficult relationship with public institutions and the lack of predictability TAXan element that constantly appears in any serious discussion about the business environment in Romania. At the same time, the study presents the country as a market with a high degree of openness, where business models already saturated in Western economies can be successfully tested and scaled. It is, in other words, a rewarding market the innovation brought from outside — provided it is translated locally.
Not everyone has to come back, but everyone can contribute
Another focus of the London talks was redefining engagement DIASPORA in the country’s economy. “Not everyone has to return, but everyone can invest, connect and contribute,” said Hărătău — a formulation that deliberately defuses the emotional pressure of returning home and replaces it with a more pragmatic model: the transfer of capitalexpertise and professional networks can also work remotely.
ROUNIT launched at the same time quarterly magazine Info ROUNITa media platform dedicated to Romanian communities outside the country, and announced that the full results of the study will be presented on October 17 at the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The event was also attended by Felicia Akkaya, the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Romania – Great Britaintogether with entrepreneurs, professionals and institutional partners. The president of ROUNIT, Eugen Terteleac, also touched on the subject of the image of Romanians in the media Britishemphasizing that the diaspora needs a collective, coherent and unitary voice — not just individual reactions. It remains to be seen whether official Romania will know how to listen to what is being built, silently and methodically, across the English Channel.
Read also:
► ROUNIT returns to London on March 22, 2026: the Romanian diaspora in Great Britain, invited to a new dialogue on investment and repatriation
► Romanians in Great Britain enthusiastically adopt the ROUNIT project: a meeting of souls in London marks the start of the 2025 tour
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