Antoine de Saint-Affrique, Unilever's vice-president for Central and Eastern Europe, says Romania has been one of the top two European markets to derive the highest turnover growth rates for the company in recent years.
Besides its strategic location in terms of production, Unilever also believes in Romania's potential to provide expert managers, who are potential recruits for other company subsidiaries.
"Romania has many important assets: the size of the market, the upward trend in consumption, the people, and last but not least, in a world of commercial exchanges, Romania's geographical position is extremely valuable," says Antoine de Saint-Affrique.
This year, Unilever South&Central Europe sent two managers from Romania to its subsidiary in the Netherlands.
"I run Unilever's operations in 23 countries in Central and Eastern Europe; markets where our company currently has five regional presidents. The only country where we have a president who shares the same nationality is Romania, which I believe says a great deal about the market's potential to deliver talented people," says Antoine de Saint-Affrique.
Unilever's vice-president says the Balkan area has been generating significant increases for the company owing to emerging markets with a high growth potential such as Bulgaria and Romania.
Last year, Unilever South Central Europe (USCE) turnover for the domestic market rose by 18% against 2006, to 163m euros. At present, domestic sales account for around 70% of USCE's turnover, with Romania boasting the biggest market in the Balkan area in terms of consumers.
"I cannot provide any details about our short-term investment plans for Romania, but I don't think the market will reach maturity just yet," states Antoine de Saint-Affrique.
Last year, Unilever started to reshuffle its production operations in Romania, and relocated margarine production from Targu Mures, as well as the concentrated soup and spice production unit from Otopeni, to an industrial platform in Ploiesti.
"Regionally, I've always believed that EU integration is a major opportunity for this business. (...) In Romania, integration was one of several factors that prompted us to expand our production facilities," adds Antoine Saint-Affrique.
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