General data

The geographic location of the Timis County is a privileged one as the most Western county of Romania, neighbouring the Csongrad County – Hungary in the West and the Province of Vojvodina Sebia in the South-West. The connection between the two counties is ensured by the border crossing points in Cenad, respectively those in Stamora Moravita and Jimbolia. The neighboring Romanian counties of the Timis County are Arad to the North, Hunedoara to the East and Caras-Severin to the South East. Timis County, the largest county of the country (8697 square km), has a varied relief: plains in the western and central part, hills continued with mountains, in the eastern part. The county territory is crossed by the Timis and Bega rivers, and the climate is mild, temperate-continental with Mediterranean influences.
The county capital is the city of Timisoara, also called "the city of roses ", which is also the most important city in the Western region of Romania. It is located on the Bega river and is a cosmopolite city inhabited by over 350,000 Romanians, Hungarians, Serbs, Slovakians, Bulgarians and other ethnic groups. A symbol of democracy, solidarity, tolerance and initiative, Timisoara is a Western city not only through its location, but also through it Occidental mentality of its inhabitants, who are proud of their cultural tradition and economic performances.

Lugoj, the second large city of the county, is located on the Timis river, at the crossing of two main commercial roads, being the second urban centre (approx. 50,000 inhabitants) and an important economic center of Timis County. Due to its cultural values, famous choral music concerts and its touristic sites, the city used to be known as the "capital of Banat culture".
Other eight smaller cities, Sannicolau Mare and Jimbolia in the West, the touristic resort Buzias – located only 30 km away from Timisoara, Deta, Gataia and Ciacova to the South, Recas – known for its wine-cellars and Faget in the East, completes in a balanced manner the urban of the county. The other people, up to approx. 700,000 of inhabitants of the county, live in a rural environment in the 85 townships and 230 villages which complete its administrative territorial structure.

The population of the county is of 687,377 inhabitants, Timis being considered, and rightfully so, a multi-ethnic county, where Romanians, Hungarians, Germans, Serbs, and other minorities live together in harmony. The population distribution in the rural land urban environments is of approximately 400,000 inhabitants in the urban environment, the other 300,000 being located in the rural one.

The county infrastructure

The roads network is very well developed, 2858 km long, which places the county in the 1^st place in the hierarchy of public road lengths.
The Timis County is traversed by two important European roads, E 70, which enters the country from Serbia through the frontier crossing point Stamora Moravita and connects, through Timisoara, with the South of the country and the capital, Bucharest and, E 671, which crosses the county from North to South, ensuring a good connection with Hungary and, respectively, Central Europe.
Over the last years, the public administration authorities have started vast actions to improve the quality of the traffic infrastructure, as well as to develop the existent network. The project to build the Nadlag - Arad - Timisoara – Bucharest highway is under process and it will connect the Western part of the country to the 4^th pan-European lane.

Air transportation is ensured by the International Timisoara Airport, located in the North-Eastern part of the town. It is considered a spare airport for the International Airports at Otopeni (Bucharest), Budapest and Belgrade, being the second important and large airport in the country and the most important one in the DKMT Euro-region.
The airport offers regular flights through several national and international air companies, facilitating quick connections, for passengers and merchandise transport, to various countries in the country and around the world.
The technical endowment of the airport allows access of the aircrafts used by large companies all over the world, including the Airbus-310 or Concorde type, and it is the most important air gate of the county and the region.

The railway network (787 km) which has been forming ever since the last century, as a result of the industrial development of the Timis County, is now the most dense railway network in the country. The county is traversed by two international railway routes, the South main railway, with the Bucharest - Craiova - Timisoara – Jimbolia route and connections to Belgrad and Kikinda (Serbia) and the West main railway, which leaves from Timisoara to Baia-Mare, traverses the Tisa Field and connects, in Ilia, with the main railway Bucharest - Brasov - Arad.

The telecommunication network has known an exceptional development over the last few years, and has determined the growth of accessibility to the modern internal and international communication means. The large companies in this field had an essential contribution to this (for example: the Romanian-French joint venture Alcatel, producer of modern telephone exchange). Timis County is among the first counties in the country in terms of public telephone boxes and the share of clients who have subscribed to digital exchanges. We can also see that the mobile telephony is strongly developing, all the mobile telephony operators in the country being present in the Timis County as well.

The county economy

The Timis County industry is strong and diverse being supported by the tradition, the Western location of the county as well as by the highly qualified work force, advantages confirmed by the presence of numerous investors, local and foreigners. On the 31^st of December 2007, there were 36.300 companies registered with Timis Trade Register, of which 7.134 joint ventures or companies with foreign capital, with partners in over 80 counties in the world. The value of the foreign nominal capital subscribed was, according to the same statistics of 751,9 mil. USD.
Among the prestigious companies present in the county we mention: Continental AG, Solectron Corp. Romania, Zoppas Industries Romania, Philips&Elba Street Lighting, ABB Rometrics, Alcatel NS, Delphi Packard, Siemens Automotive, Procter&Gamble, Eybl Textil, Eybl-Automotive-Components, Kromberg&Schuberrt, Lisa Drexlmayer, Incontro Prefabricati, IMP Romania Industrial CO, Ceramica Apparechi Sanitari, Monlandys, EFF and others. The largest share of the total production of the county (70%) is held by the processing industry, with its main branches, the food industry, the chemical industry, the textile industry, the metal and wood processing industry.
The food industry has developed due to the high agricultural potential of the area, as well as to the large volume of private investments made in this branch, which adds up to 81.5% of the total investments.
Other important sectors are the textile industry, the leather and footwear industry and the industry of car and equipment building.

The SME sector – the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) have been developing since 1990, within the county economy, and they now represent approx. 95% of the total number of companies registered at the Trade Register Office, including authorized natural persons or family associations.
The analysis of the SME structures shows that the majority of the workforce in this sector is engaged in services, trade and other import-export operations.
The growth tendency of the SME sector is an important potential of the Timis County, the dynamic of this sector is reflected in the increase of the contribution of the small and medium enterprises to PIB (the internal gross income) (over 40%).
The priviledged lposition of Timis County, the entrepreneurial tradition of the area, the occidental mentality of the inhabitants and their spirit of initiative which has not changed during the communist period, the life standard of the population, which, in the Western part is higher than the rest of the country as well as the capitalization capacity relatively higher in this part, favors the continuous development of the SME sector.

Services have boomed up in the first few years as a result of implementing ca the principles of market economy in Romania. Due to the presence of prestigious international companies in the same field, the local companies, with their client-oriented service offers, are mainly concerned with improving the quality of the services on the local market.
The production activities have also recorded a growth tendency over the last years, and are supported more and more by state bodies, through economic and tax-oriented politics.
The agricultural potential of the Timis County is remarkable, due to the large agricultural areas and the soils of a very good quality. Although, at the present time, this is less explored, it is estimated that in the future it will become one of the most attractive offers of economic cooperation of the Timis County for foreign investors.
Due to the favorable pedoclimatic, the agricultural development has more chances of future development. For now, the agriculture is characterized through the occurrence and development of individual farms, as basic structures for the traditional agriculture and support for the development of the competitive agricultural system of the region.
One of the oldest and most important agricultural activities in the county, due to the favorable climatic conditions are growing cereals and technical plants, and in most of the field and hill townships, viticulture is very successful. Places like Recas, Buzias and Giarmata are known throughout the country, and abroad in what regards the wine production. Vegetable production on individual micro farms is also a traditional economic activity especially in the rural places near urban centers.
Growing animals is also an important traditional branch of the Timis agriculture, over the last years the number of animals in the private sector has recorded a significant growth.
Although the Timis County has the capacities to process agricultural products of animal and vegetal origin, there is a strong economic cooperation potential in the field, supported by the existence of the necessary raw materials and a remarkable outlet.

The supporting infrastructure for the economic activity

The public and private interest services sector has recorded a positive qualitative evolution, the public interest and private companies activating in this field have made themselves known through a higher and higher degree of professionalism and efficiency.
The investors are supported to initiate, consolidate and develop local professional services businesses provided by prestigious local and international consultancy companies such as PriceWaterhouse Coopers, KPMG and others.

Together with the specialized offer from private companies, the authorities of the local and county public administration take responsibility for being the main agent for the local economic and social development. To this ends, in 1995, the Timis County Council has started the Agency for Economic and Social Development - Timis - ADETIM, whose role, as a specialized public institution, is to support and stimulate through specific means and methods the economic development of the county. More over, in 64 city and township halls the management has created job positions for local economic promoters, whose role, similar to the agency's, is to ensure a professional and efficient interface between the private sector and the local public administration. One stop shop professional consultancy services for foreign and local investors, regarding the local business and investment opportunities, are ensured permanently and free of charge at the administrative head offices of the local administrations.
Timisoara Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture – CCIAT – represents the interests of member trade companies and provides specific professional services.
The Private Entrepreneurs Confederation of Timis County – CIPT – represents the interests of the SME in the sector and offers its members specialized assistance in the interest fields.

Over the last years, the bank financial has developed significantly, and in Timis County there are over 30 branches of known Romanian and foreign banks, such as Romanian Commercial Bank, ABN AMRO Bank, Societe Generale - BRD, ING Barings Bank, Volksbank Romania, Banca Italo-Romena, HVB Tiriac, Raiffeisen Bank, Banca Anglo-Romana, Bancpost, Banca Romaneasca, Alpha Bank, Banca Transilvania, EXIMBANK, Piraeus Bank, Banca Millenium, OTP Bank, Romanian International Bank, ProCredit Bank, CEC Bank etc. which grant credits to the investors in the various activity sectors.
However, in Timis County, respectively in the county and regional capital, Timisoara, there are still no banks with the central head office in the area, although the development and investment progress in the county places it on second place in what dynamics is concerned, after Bucharest, and makes it one of the future major opportunities for bank investments.
Modernization of the banking system, the orientation of these services towards the client's needs, together with the introduction of the electronic transaction system and payments through cards like PRIMA, VISA, MASTERCARD brings extra accessibility for the Romanian and foreign clients.