Chapter 4: Romania

(continued)

4.5 Information Channels for Business Opportunities

Personal contacts were considered by Romania's environmental business professionals as the most important source of information regarding business opportunities, followed by materials received through the mail and from the daily press. As shown in Table 4.12, other major sources include environmental publications; the Ministry of Water Resources, Forests and Environmental Protection; local authorities; and fairs and trade shows. Professional associations and the chamber of commerce were seen as important information sources by only 43 and 35 percent, respectively. Also, only a third of respondents viewed the Academy of Sciences or the Ministry of Economics as important channels for business opportunities.

TABLE 4.12: MOST IMPORTANT CHANNELS OF INFORMATION ABOUT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Information Channel	% of Respondents

Personal contacts	93%
Direct mail	69%
Daily press	63%
Environmental publications	57%
Environmental Ministry	55%
Local authorities/municipalities	54%
Trade shows and fairs	52%
Broadcast fax service	51%
Professional associations	43%
Conference attendance	42%
Business publications	38%
Chamber of Commerce	35%
University/Academy of Sciences	33%
Ministry of Economics/Trade	26%
International organizations	25%
Commercial banks	12%
E-mail	7%

Table 4.13 shows that more than half of the surveyed environmental professionals participated in more than three conferences annually, even though only 42 percent of survey respondents indicated conference attendance as an important source for finding out about business opportunities. As shown in Table 4.14, other major reasons cited for attending conferences included meeting people in the same field, learning about new project opportunities and receiving professional training.

TABLE 4.13: ANNUAL CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE
Number of Conferences Attended Annually	% of Respondents

None	10%
1-2	35%
3-5	33%
6-10	10%
More than 10	12%

TABLE 4.14: MAIN REASONS FOR ATTENDING CONFERENCES
Reason	% of Respondents

Meet others in the same fiels	75%
Learn about new project opportunities	74%
Participate in professional training	68%
Participate as speakers	61%
Find potential partners	59%
Marketing of firm's products	43%

When asked to name the most important professional associations, survey respondents most often mentioned the Association of Environmental Businesses, the Association of Engineers and the Association of Hydrogeologists. Top professional associations are listed in Table 4.15.

TABLE 4.15: MOST IMPORTANT PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Association	% of Respondents

Association of Environmental Businesses	10%
Association of Engineers from Romania	6%
Association of Hydrogeologists from Romania	3%
Association of Environmental Engineers	3%
Romanian Society of Chemistry	3%

The top three environmental publications read by respondents are Mediul Inconjurator, Protectia Mediului and Hidrotehnica. The main newspapers read by the respondents are Romania Libera and Adevarul, and the top business publications mentioned are Capital, Tribuna Economica and Bursa. Readership figures are presented in tables 4.16-4.18.

TABLE 4.16: READERSHIP OF ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLICATIONS
Environmental Publication	% Who Read

Mediul Inconjurator	11%
Hidrotehnica	8%
Protectia Mediului	7%
Terra XXI	7%
Buletin de informare Curenta	6%
Jurnalul Naturii	4%
Waste Management of Environment	3%
Environmental Engineering Works	3%

TABLE 4.17: READERSHIP OF NEWSPAPERS
Newspaper	% Who Read

Romania Libera	12%
Adevarul	10%
Local daily	8%
Vocea Romaniei	8%
Evenimentul Zilei	7%

TABLE 4.18: READERSHIP OF BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS
Business Publication	% Who Read

Capital	34%
Tribuna Economica	13%
Bursa	7%
Lumea Afacerilor	7%
Revista Economica	7%
Adevarul Economic	7%
Idei de Afaceri	5%
Business Central Europe	5%

REC * PUBLICATIONS * EMERGING ENVIRONMENTAL MARKET 2 * ROMANIA