Publicat pe 11/04/2022

Arad, April 8, 2022: Arad Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (CCIA Arad), in partnership with the Commercial Service of the United States of America Embassy in Bucharest and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR), organized on Friday April 8, the conference “Best practices against corruption – education and prevention”, an event that focused on corruption in the business environment and the means to combat non-compliant practices in companies.

The conference, held by experts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for Romania and Moldova, was followed by a presentation of the SelectUSA 2022 Program, managed by the US Federal Government, as well as by a presentation of the SelectUSA 2022 Investment Summit. At the event participated, together with the US Embassy representatives, the President of CCIA Arad, Mr. Gheorghe Seculici, the Prefect of Arad County, Mr. Csaba Toth, the Vice-president of the Arad County council, Mr. Răzvan-Olimpiu Cadar, The deputy mayor of Arad, Mr. Ilie Chesa, many Arad businessmen and other representatives of public institutions in Arad.

 “I welcome the presence at this event of a significant number of public and private environment representatives. The opening for a best practices exchange with the American partners represents an important step on the side of the fight against corruption, in complementarity with the steps of the competent Romanian institutions. Corruption is one of the biggest obstacles to growth, social development and efforts to reduce poverty globally. Corruption limits economic growth by discouraging investments and increasing transaction costs, which leads to misallocation of resources and undermining the functions of state institutions. We therefore encourage private operators to introduce anti-corruption clauses in commercial contracts, which will allow the non-guilty party to unilaterally terminate the contract if the other party is definitively convicted of corruption and use due diligence questionnaires to assess integrity programs of business partners, throughout the supply and distribution chain”, said the President of the Arad Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, Mr. Gheorghe Seculici.

FBI officials present at the event stressed that “worldwide, the scourge of corruption leads to an increase in the costs and risks to which a business is subjected. At the same time, investment is discouraged, economic development is disrupted and public procurement is compromised. It is enough for a single corrupt company to destroy the entire industry it belongs to, just as it is enough for a group of corrupt people to destroy the reputation of an entire country. For the FBI, fighting corruption remains a priority because it poses a real global threat. Corruption can affect border security, it can affect our daily lives by inducing insecurity. The FBI must take the first step and come to the private sector and ask about the necessary support. Only together with the business environment, through coordination and education, can we build a true resilience against this scourge”.

“As you well know, foreign investments are very important for any country, so implicitly for the United States. SelectUSA is a great opportunity to learn about American law, the business climate, business opportunities, and the tax system. Romanian companies interested in investing in the United States of America can enroll in the SelectUSA program, the most important program promoted by the American authorities. The United States is currently hosting more foreign direct investment than any other country in the world, with a total stock of over $ 4.62 trillion at the end of 2020. Since its inception, the SelectUSA Investment Summit has attracted thousands of international investors, bringing in more $ 59 billion in new investment projects in the United States and supporting over 49,000 jobs in the United States” said the US Embassy’s Commercial Attaché for Romania and Moldova in Bucharest, Mr. Thomas Hanson.

During the event in Arad, the participants received all the necessary information regarding the registration and participation in the SelectUSA Investment Summit (https://www.selectusasummit.us/), which will take place from June 26 to 29, 2022, in Washington, D.C., USA, being one of the most important events in the United States dedicated to promoting foreign direct investment.