Arad eyes infrastructure development

Falca also referred to the loan the City Hall obtained from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), specifying that 43 per cent of the municipality's budget was earmarked for investments. "If Arad had ever been rated without taking into consideration the country rating the city would have had a much better rating than Romania. Arad residents are aware that we have secured a new 13 million Euro loan from EBRD because we can manage public funds very well." He added that the city was the beneficiary of one of the biggest projects in Romania, a 70 million Euro infrastructure project, involving the construction of 80 km of sewage network. The mayor hopes the project could be finalized by 2011. Speaking about Cosmote's development on the Romanian market, Costantin Ehling, head of Corporate Sales - Timisoara Region, Corporate Sales Department, Cosmote Romania, said the company had already exceeded 6.1 million subscribers. "When Cosmote arrived in Romania it had to face a difficult situation. It was ten years behind its competitors, especially Orange and Vodafone. In 2005, when Cosmote started its operations here, they covered over 95 per cent of the market. Prices were high, interconnection taxes were quite steep, creating a disadvantage for smaller players," said Ehling. "Cosmote also had to invest massively in its network coverage. When it launched operations it covered 51 per cent of the population and 28 per cent of the territory. In less than three years, the coverage reached nearly 100 per cent of the population and 88 per cent of the territory," he added. Ehling emphasized that the company had launched very attractive pre-paid and post-paid offers, "which was the only way for us to consolidate our position on the market." Last year, Cosmote reported an operational profit for the first time at the end of the second quarter. "In 2008, the company also started to look into developing its mobile data services, and at the end of the first quarter in 2009 we reached a market share of 23 per cent. In 2009, we aim to secure a considerable market share in the business segment." In turn, Ana Maria Costin Groman, route manager France & corporate officer with Blue Air, spoke about her company's experience. Launching its first flight in 2004, the company initially covered three destinations. Emphasizing Blue Air's rapid growth, Ana Maria Costin Groman pointed out that it currently flew to 20 destinations in Europe. It also flies from Bucharest to Arad five times a week. The Blue Air official also announced the launch of the new Arad - Barcelona flight, operating twice a week. "We will also change the reservation system, allowing our passengers to pay the baggage fee online. So if they have extra luggage, they can pay the fee online. The company also plans to invest in service quality. "We want to place ourselves above low cost companies and just under regular carriers, without changing prices. We have always tried to be a step ahead of our competition; for example, now we have the largest baggage allowance for checked items - 20 kg - and the smallest fee for checked baggage - seven Euro per item." In turn, Nicolae Munteanu, manager with the Regional Operational Program Implementation Department, Regional Development Agency - West Region, spoke about the financing projects submitted in the west region. "We have received 145 projects for financing, with a total value of 328 million Euro. Unfortunately, 64 of them have been rejected. But the most important aspect is that 45 projects have already been approved, their combined value amounting to 57.25 million Euro. Another 36 projects are currently undergoing evaluation procedures." Referring to the activities of the Arad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nicolae Grosan, general manager of the institution, mentioned the construction of the exhibition center in Arad, which according to him is the second largest in the country after Romexpo in Bucharest. "The exhibition center creates meeting opportunities and offers companies conditions for discussing business partnerships." He added that the Chamber of Commerce had been involved in expanding the exhibition center, operation which will require investments of 1.5 million Euro. Representing German company BOS, which has been operating on the local market since 2002, Milenco-Sava Manzat said the company focused on the production of automotive parts. "The Arad production facility now has 650 employees and delivers its products mainly to clients such as BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, for French manufacturers Peugeot, Renault and Citroen, as well as Volvo, SAAB and Opel. I can say that our client portfolio includes around 30 car manufacturers," said Manzat. Referring to the company's 2009 sales, he said: "Now we are nine per cent below our initial target, announced in November last year. We had a difficult time in January and February, when orders dropped by nearly 50 per cent." With 450 staff, Yazaki is also active in the automotive business, manufacturing electronic components for cars, according to Carmen Ardelean, human resources and general affaires manager. Speaking about the company's sales, she indicated: "We cannot say we were not affected at the end of last year and early this year, but now we are recovering. We had no layoffs, but we did go through difficult times and everyone was included in an unpaid leave plan. Now we are back at maximum capacity."