The North-Est Region

DEMO-GEOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS

North-East is the largest region of Romania, with an area of 36,850 square kilometers (15,46% of total territory) with. External borders with Ukraine and Moldavia. It is composed from 6 counties: Bacau, Botosani, Neamt, Iasi, Suceava and Vaslui. With a population of 3,734,546 inhabitants (17,25%of the population) and a population density of 101,3 inhabitants per km2, the North-East Region ranks the second in terms of density by region(bucharest-ilfov). The region's population is located mainly in rural areas(56,6%). The region is characterized by a harmonious combination of all forms of rellief, 30% mountains, 30% sub-carpathian landscapes, 40% plateau. Rich landscape of hills and plain areas offer are suitable for a wide range of crops and mountain areas with spectacular scenery are conducive to tourism development. The main cities of the region are at the same time the capitals of the six counties. Iasi, powerful industrial center and also one of the most important universities, culture, art, tradition and spirituality centers of Romania, it was for centuries the capital of Moldavia . It is the largest city in the North East Region and one of the largest in Romania. Bacau, famous in the middle ages as customs and trade center, now it is  also an industrial and university center with a strong economy, dynamic, with many foreign investments. It is located in the center of the former historic provinces of Moldavia, is a railway and a bus at the intersection of two european roads. Suceava and Piatra Neamt, former industrial cities that have lost economic power at this chapter , but have kept the historical charm. Consequently they became centers of interest in the development and the entry gates in the mountain area of the north east region, which provide most of the touristic potential of the region. Botosani and Vaslui, old commercial and agricultural centers, these cities have witnessed important historical events and are the places of origin for artists, writers and famous romanian musicians. Currently, Botosani and Vaslui are important centers for regional development in terms of textile and manufacturing. Both benefit from a cheaper workforce and presents economic potential, especially in industry.

EMPLOYMENT AND MIGRATION

Employment is close to national average by33,8%. A very high proportion of employment in agriculture has (42,7%), especially counties Botosani(52,9%), and Vaslui(51,2%). The share of population employed in industry and services is  under the national  average (23,5%) and 19,4%, the counties Botosani (15,1%) and Suceava( 16,8%) having the lowest employment degree in industry, and Vaslui in the services.

THE REGIONAL ECONOMY

The North-East Region is the least developed region of romania (gdp/capita is 73,6% of the national average). Within the region's poorest areas are the southeastern county of Iasi, southeastern Neamt county, the eastern province of Bacau and Vaslui county. In particular, the western region, which has been in years 60 to 70 subject to forced industrialization (furniture, chemicals, construction materials, machine building, textiles), has  entered a process of de-industrialization in the last 10 years( chemical industry enterprises, petrochemical, light industry, machine building, furniture), which has aggravated the economic situation, the traditionally underdeveloped eastern region. It also operates two industrial parks in the region(Bacau, Iasi), of which one is privately owned and the other is in the public-private partnership. They cover an area of 22,38 hectares of brownfield type the  industrial park Bacau is based on information and communications technology . The industrial park of Iasi is for high-tech industries including it and biotechnology companies. It has to stop labor migration couples and be specialized in these areas by providing jobs for graduates in the domain. The North-East Office, an euroinfo center has operated since 1999, an IRE( innovation relay center) in Iasi and 33 advisory centers. Also, the three existing business incubators provide incubation for 118 companies, helping to achieve the 270 new jobs. In addition the development disparities between west and east, in the North-East there are also apparent urban-rural disparities in the general level of development, infrastructural facilities of all types, their attractiveness to investment, most of the foreign investment in Moldavia come frome Holland, France, Italy, Luxembourg. Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Finland , U.S.A., Germany, Cyprus and Israel.

 INFRASTRUCTURE

SHIPPING

The infrastructure of roads, water and water sewerage networks raises in most counties, but most affected are the counties of Botosani, Iasi, Vaslui. These counties are also faced with environmental problems caused  by the lack of water, old deforestation, considerable landslides and deep phreatic layer. The public roads density is 36,3km/km2 top national average  (33,5km/km2), being highest in Iasi, Botosani, Vaslui and Bacau , because the region is crossed by a number of european corridors (E 85, E 576, E574, E 581, E 583). The transport facilities have been improved, both inside and outside the region, there is an extensive network of rails and airports in the three urban centers in the  areas - Bacau, Iasi and Suceava. Railway network density is 44,3/1000 km2, the region is crossed by two of the main railways in yhe country:  5(bucharest- suceava) and 6(bucharest-iasi). The three airports (Bacau, Iasi and Suceava) serving both domestic and foreign flights in all the three cities, there are concrete projects to modernize airports more advanced as those in Iasi and Bacau. Suceava county has 5 heliports and in Iasi there is a utility airbase with 30 years experience in the the field and which has the object of commercial flights and medical flights.

 PUBLIC UTILITIES

Both the water supply network and sewage that are developed, the share of the municipalities with water supply network was of 54,8% compared with the national average(61,0%) and Iasi and Vaslui counties having a proportion of localities with sewage network by only 13,3% and 12,8%. Also, the capacity of wastewater treatment and sewage waste storage capacity is insufficient, compared  to current requirements. Only 18,4% of the total number of localities of the region are connected to natural gas distribution, the counties of bacau, iasi and neamt, having the highest share. As the number of settlements connected to heat distribution networks are in a continuous decrease, 4,3% of of the villages of the North-East Region are connected to the distribution af  heat. The counties recording higher values are Neamt, Suceava and Iasi.

 EDUCATION

The North-East Region has the largest share of the population and the students (17,2% and 17,7%),  but the number of units for the educational process is small - only 10.9% of the number of educational institutions throughout the county. Three counties - Bacau(23,6%), Iasi(16,3%) and Suceava (14,4%) - have approximately 60% of the total number of schools in the region, with the largest school population, compared with other 3 counties in the region. Also, they are university centers.

 HEALTH

The North-East Region has 164 health units (hospitals, polyclinics, dispensaries, sanatoria  tbc), representing 12,07% of all the health units  in romania that are  public owned .

SOCIAL SERVICES

In the North-East Region have been the highest number of new born to the whole country (5,4% of national total), but the child wellfare institutions are underdeveloped. In recent years the authorities did, however, some efforts to match european standards .

 THE AREA’S PROBLEMS

More detailed analysis of internal disparities in the development of the North-East Region, both in terms of economic development and the environmental issues, highlights the following types of the areas problems:

- isolated rural areas with weak infrastructure - the  rural region covering the confluence of the counties of Bacau, Vaslui, Iasi and Neamt, which continues with the western part of Vaslui.

- strip adjacent to the border between the counties of botosani and iasi ;

- portion located in the south -eastern county of Iasi and continues north east of Vaslui, on the right bank of the river of Prut

- areas including isolated groups of villages in southern Suceava.

 THE DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL

The West Region is and will continue to be more developed than the east. The chance of East Regions, bordering the eastern border of the european union, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldavia, is to expand the service of goods transit from the countries of the former ussr(storage, ennoblement and training by segmentation and packing etc). This should be carried out works of infrastructure, creation of areas with specific features (logistic), similar to the ports of Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, specialized in such services. Due to the favorable conditions available, places of beauty, purity of air, water, mountain areas in the counties of Bacau, Neamt, Suceava and the invaluable cultural and religious heritage existing in the North-East Region has high tourism potential, which can be compared with other famous tourist areas in the country and abroad. Along the beautifull region, known  hospitality, traditions, habits, the moldavian cuisine, traditional wine tasting from vineyards Husi and Cotnari give local colour to attract tourits. The main types of tourism are: the cultural tourism (museums, ehnographic, art), the  religious  tourism, therapeutic spa, leisure and the transit agrotourism.  Mountainous and hilly areas in the western region (the counties of Suceava, Neamt, Bacau) have a valuable tourist potential, largely insufficiently developed, except Bukovina, but with appropiate measures can easily enter in the european tourist circuit with the religious tourism(Monasteries of Putna, Moldovita , Sucevita, Voronet, Humor, Arbore, Agapia, Varatec, Dragomirna, Secu, Sihastria, Casin), spa treatment tourism (Campulung Moldovenesc, Oglinzi, Baltatesti, Targu Ocna ), the ethnographic tourism, the agrotourism, the rural tourism, sports (mountaineering, hunting, fishing, extreme sports- paragliding, rafting , tourist orientation , mountainbike, skiing).

The degree of endownment of the settlements, the originality of landschaft bukovina with its specific and particular villages, with a high degree of civilization, can  play an important role in the long term tourism, with sport activities, leisure and health optimization (Vatra Dornei, Solca, Cacica and Bistrita valley). The  region's traditional economic domain, the wood processing industry has experienced a significant growth in recent years (2001-2005), not only in terms of jobs (11,6% in 2004) but especially on turnover with(100% more than in 2001). The increasing share of furniture industry in  the total turnover shows a shift towards greater exploitation of timber. Also, the textile industry has seen a huge increase in turnover in 2004(by 15,0% compared to 2001), but productivity is low due to the use of cmt system with a low added value. Primarily due to the low labor cost, the North-East is one of the most profitable parts of europe for investment. Also, the cost of land and buildings is low, while the modern network of banks allows the deployment of the commercial communications. With three campuses in the region, employment presents a high degree of professional training and adequate education. Because of high tourist potential, and also the massive infusion of funds from the budget allocations, european and direct private investment, the North-East  Region has seen in recent years, according to romanian statistics, as well as eurostat, the fastest growing in romania. Economic and financial crisis has slowed down everything, but it is expected that once the crisis ended, to resume growth. Authorities search for solutions for that and rely heavily on the foreign investment.