University Of Bacău
After the political changes in 1989, the city of Bacău (like most of the industrial cities in Romania) progressively diminished its production capacity, as many plants totally or partially lost their functionalities. The unemployment rate grew and since 2008, as a result of the global economic crisis, the situation has worsened.
The North-East Region of Romania (which includes Bacău County) has the highest poverty rate among all the Romanian regions: 26.2% in 2010.A large part of the active population in this region is employed temporarily or permanently in economic activities in Bucharest, Banat, Western Europe (especially Italy and Spain) and Israel.The Western part of the region, which in the 60s and 70s has been the subject to a forced industrialization (metal manufacturing, furniture, chemistry, construction materials, car manufacturing, textiles), has started a des-industrialization process for the past 10 years (chemical industry, petrochemicals, machinery, furniture, textile), which has aggravated the economical situation, whereas the Eastern part of the region is traditionally underdeveloped. In the city of Bacău, only several industrial platforms are still functioning, but with a small number of employees.
Bacău also suffers from an ageing population, as does the whole of Romania with the inherent social pressure. Romania's population will fall by 4.5 million inhabitants by the year 2060, reaching 16.9 million inhabitants, shows data released by EUROSTAT. Romania will have in this period the fourth sharpest decline in population among the 27 EU states: 21%, after Bulgaria (28%), Latvia (26%) and Lithuania (24%). (source: http://www.privatepensions.ro). According to President of the National Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies in Romania, in 2050 the dependency ratio in the public health insurance system would be a payer to nine beneficiaries. For Bacău, the trend fits the data for the whole country.
However, there are some assets too that open new challenges for the city and its actors. The prognosis is moderately optimistic for the North-East Region, for the next years, mainly for tourism and agriculture. The region should be very attractive for the investors, due to low costs of implementing businesses in this area.
Bacău hosts the only structure of technological transfer and innovation in Bacău County, the Industrial Park HIT Hemeiuşi (http://hitpark.ro/en). HIT Park is an Industrial Park addressed to the local branches of the multinational companies, traditional companies on the national IT&C market, companies that develop branch activities in the IT&C field, start-up companies. The project has been financed by the European Union, Romanian Government and Bacău County Council.
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