Roger You, the deputy chairman of China's F&J Group, says he has so far invested 50 million euros mainly in the wood processing and tobacco fields, but that his plans will not stop here.
"In the early '90s we heard about the business opportunities in Romania and we thought to give it a try. In the first phase we operated through imports and tested the market in the process. In 1997, we started investing," said the deputy chairman of F&J Group, a company developed by Chinese investors.
F&J entered the Romanian market in 1991 and at present operates in several fields: wood processing, tobacco, electrical home appliances and electronics, textiles, fruit and vegetables.
The group's initial investments targeted a tobacco plant, Sinorama, worth 3 million euros, in Buzau county and new funds were then earmarked for the wood industry.
Last year, the company decided to invest 20 million euros jointly with China Tobacco in a tobacco plant located in Buzau. The new production facility will start operating early next year. The raw material to be used will be largely imported, with only the packaging being acquired from Romania. At this moment, Sinorama, the company's tobacco plant, produces two brands: Golden Monkey and Dubliss, both of them Chinese.
The F&J Group last year derived turnover worth 50 million euros, and this year projects turnover growth by 20%.
In the wood industry, the company owns Lemnking plant in Buzau, in which it started investing in 1998 and registered sales worth above 15 million euros this year.
The company has more than 500 employees. Recently, Lemnking has signed a contract worth 3.5 million dollars (3 million euros) with China Meho Corporation of China, to secure beech timber exports.
As far as wood processing is concerned, the company intends to set up a furniture plant in partnership with a Chinese firm, with the raw material to be delivered by Lemnking.
Roger You specified there were many Chinese companies interested in producing in Romania.
Under the circumstances, the company is interested in developing an industrial park in Buzau county, with approximately 40% of its value being financed by the Chinese government.
F&J has branches in Hungary, Serbia, United Kingdom, Brazil and Romania, but nevertheless Roger You says he prefers to invest in Romania mainly because of the relatively low labour costs.
Another unit of the group, Gentrade Com, operating in the textile field, entered the market in 1995 and at present works with major cash & carry and hypermarket chains: Metro, Selgros, Carrefour, Cora, Interex, Pic, Kaufland, as well as with Staff Collection (House of Art), II Cost (Moda Aliss).
The value of Romania-China trade amounted to 1.89 billion dollars (1.5 billion euros) last year. Most of it was carried out in the energy, wood processing and chemical industries.
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