amcham.ro Anca Harasim, Executive Director March 7, 2009 Bucharest, Romania

1. American Business Know-How Worldwide Labor, Human Resources and Education American Chamber of Commerce in Romania(AmCham Romania) www.amcham.roAnca Harasim, Executive DirectorMarch 7, 2009Bucharest, Romania

2. AmCham Romania • Largest private business association in Romania • Approx. 300 members • American, Romanian, multinational companies • Membership driven organization (NGO) • US Chamber affiliation • Member of the European Council of American Chambers of Commerce (ECACC) Structure: • Annual General Meeting • Board of Directors • Executive Director + staff • Committees & Task Forces (working groups) • Labor, Human Resources, Education • Information Technology & Communication

3. AmCham Initiatives • Collaboration between school/university – company (from the labor force perspective) • Employability si adaptability cannot be achieved by the school alone • Teachher quality depends on school – company collaboration • Research & Development needs companies’ involvement • AmCham got involved in most of these issues • IT didn’t need many arguments, easily accepted by the school • Other areas, with more inertia

4. Labor Force and Education • Are two components in the economic and social mixes that largely impact the well-being of a country • A healthy education system, connected to economic and social realities, ensures a competitive labor market, capable of coping with the challenges of a fast growing economy, more sophisticated demand, and a reality in permanent transformation • The National Pact on Education - the importance of involving the business community in transforming the Romanian education in the knowledge society • The business sector is one of the direct beneficiaries of the output the education system generates - authorities to rely on and involve the business community in the modernization process of the educational system – National Strategy on Education

5. START Internship Program • The availability of and the affordability of the labor force are two of the most important considerations when investors choose Romania • Therefore, in order to maintain these assets in the long run, the Romanian authorities should take the lead and incentivize universities to increase graduates’ employment readiness and relevance at graduation through curricula up-dates and internships • START Internship Program – 2008 pilot phase (550+ internships) • 2009 – national level (Bucharest, Cluj, Timisoara, Iasi) - 2,000 internships nationwide • Joint management unit coordinated by Junior Achievement

6. IT&C Committee • Currently on the agenda: • Intellectual Property Rights • Research & Development – Innovation: a better collaboration among companies, academia and dedicated institutions • E-government • Input to the occupational standards – inter-sectorial working groups • Curricula up-date at university level – Higher Education Leadership & Quality Project (funded by EU)

7. Labor, HR, Education Committee Currently on the agenda: • Amendments to the Labor Code – incl. provisions for internships • Stimulate employers to provide annual professional training by exempting them from paying unemployment contributions; • Stimulate the business community’s involvement in students’ training process over the study years at under-graduate, graduate and post-graduate levels, in order to improve their readiness and employability at graduation; • Introduce mandatory 2 to 3 month internship stages in the curricula, to take place anytime during the school year, a necessary condition to improve students’ employability at graduation. At the same time, an up-date of the legislative framework governing internship stages is mandatory; • Education – a priority for CSR involvement of AmCham member companies

8. 2009 AmCham prioritiesRecommendations to the Government • Stability and predictability: enforcement of Law 52/2003 on decision-making transparency is mandatory • Romania’s attractiveness and competitiveness, through coherent and synergic policies • Implementation of the multi-year state budget project which grants country financial stability and predictability, the possibility to plan ahead and implement multi-year programs with major social and economic impact, programs that require funds earmarked over several years. • Competitive Labour Force and Education • Modern Infrastructure • Transformation of ARI (Romanian Agency for Investment) into an useful tool to attract, keep and stimulate investments • Reconfiguration of the Economic and Social Council (CES) so that business associations could be assimilated to employers and entitled to be part of CES. This way, a better representativeness of the employers is insured and the social dialog among the employers, trade unions and Government leads to viable policies in which all stakeholders are aligned and act coherently.

9. Thank You !