Razvan Balaban, Philip Morris: Romania is changing the industrial advantage, from cost to capability

The Philip Morris industrial platform in Otopeni illustrates the shift of Romania's competitive advantage from low costs to advanced technological and operational capabilities, says Răzvan Balaban, Senior Manager of External Affairs at the company, in an interview with Business Review. He emphasizes that PMI's investments of over 1.1 billion dollars in Romania, of which about 730 million dollars in the Otopeni factory, have transformed the unit into a high-tech production hub, with over 90% of production destined for export to more than 50 markets across five continents.

According to Balaban, the total economic impact of PMI's operations in Romania has exceeded 10 billion lei, with the company directly supporting about 1,500 jobs and indirectly approximately 9,000, through a network of over 4,300 local suppliers, to whom payments have exceeded 4 billion lei in the period 2019–2023. He states that the true dimension of an investment is seen in the number of Romanian firms that grow alongside it and emphasizes that fiscal stability and regulatory predictability are essential for maintaining this type of long-term industrial investment.

Balaban believes that Romania can leverage its new industrial advantage – based on technology, skilled labor, and export capacity – provided there is a coherent public policy framework that encourages reindustrialization and high value-added investments.