The forest-based sector in Romania
The National Support Group of Romania (NSG Romania) was reorganized in December 2017 with a call to the representative organizations in the sector to engage in efforts to increase funding of the forest-based sector and for better cooperation with the Advisory Committee of the Forest-based Sector Technology Platform (FTP AC). Up until now, the two largest universities dealing with forestry, as well as the Forest Research Institute and Fordaq Romania, agreed to participate in the National Support Group. The secretariat of the Romanian National Support Group is hosted by the Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering within the Transilvania University of Brașov.
The contribution of the forest-based sector, including the wood industry, to national GDP, has varied between 3.5% and 4.5% over the past decade. The forest-based sector is a major employer, especially in rural areas, although numbers have dropped from 235,000 in 2000, to an estimated 180,000 in 2017. Of this, the furniture industry is the major employer, accounting for almost 80,000 jobs followed by the wood processing industry and the National Forest Administration (NFA). Romania is a net exporter of forest products including sawn wood and wood-based panels. The primary wood-processing industry, excluding furniture production, has about 7,500 operational companies, as this sector is especially attractive for small entrepreneurs. Over the past decade there has been significant investment in wood processing. However, despite this investment, the sector is dominated by many small companies with inefficient and outdated machinery incapable of ensuring consistent quality; approximately 92% of all wood-processing companies are SMEs. There are an estimated 4,000 furniture plants and workshops employing approximately 80,000 people in 2017. Romania is a major exporter of wooden furniture and exports are directed mainly towards EU markets. Investment in new technologies for producing solid wood panels for furniture and multi-layer parquet flooring has underpinned export growth in recent years.
The key priorities of the Romanian National Support Group are:
- To improve knowledge of the development of the forestry-related institutional and normative framework in Europe and to ensure proper dissemination of information among the key forest-based sector stakeholders
- To mobilize the potential of Romanian forest-based sector stakeholders in identifying specific issues and finding solutions
The main actors involved in the Romanian National Support Group are: Transilvania University of Brașov, Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava, the National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry “Marin Drăcea”, and Fordaq Romania.
External links
Transilvania University of Brașov
Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava
National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry Marin Drăcea
Fordaq Romania
Do you want to know more?
Are you a representative of a Romanian company or organization and do you want to know what FTP can do to help you in the European arena? Please contact the secretariat of the FTP National Support Group of Romania.
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Research projects
- BIOMOTIVE – Advanced BIObased polyurethanes and fibres for the autoMOTIVE industry with increased environmental sustainability
- DIABOLO – Distributed, integrated and harmonised forest information for bioeconomy outlooks
- Forwarder2020 – Smart forwarder for sustainable and efficient forest operation and management
- InnoWEE – Innovative pre-fabricated components including different waste construction materials reducing building energy and minimising environmental impacts
- PROVIDE – PROVIding smart DElivery of public goods by EU agriculture and forestry
- WOODnat – Second generation of planted hardwood forests in the EU
Search for the complete list of Romanian research projects
