Advocacy for research funding

In 2025, the private sector triples investments in research and reaches the same level as public funding. What is our solution? Do we invest or cut expenses?

A highly relevant topic that has been discussed too little in recent days is the budget for education and research for the year 2026. Many people ignore this subject because they think it concerns effects that will occur over the next 10 years.

Wrong.

The discussions of these days will directly and immediately influence the number of well-paid jobs in Romania in 2026 and the following years.

Some simple ideas on this subject.

In 2025, private investments in the research and development sector in Romania increased nearly threefold compared to the previous year, 2024. The budget invested by the private sector in research in the country reached over 1.6 billion lei. This is an amount almost equal to the budget of 1.7 billion lei provided by the state.

This is an extraordinary achievement that shows Romania is developing in a clear direction. Not in the future, but while you read these lines.

How did we get here? Many people from the private and academic sectors have made a tremendous effort in the face of skepticism that has dominated for decades.

Personally, I have believed in this reality since 2014, when I initiated legislative changes regarding tax incentives for research and development activities and insisted on administrative simplification. This predictability has encouraged companies to take on long-term research projects, and the results are visible today in concrete figures:

2023: over 200 million lei;

2024: over 540 million lei;

2025: over 1,600 million lei.

In many fields, private investments in research and development represent the main source of funding for innovation, meaning they exceed public funding. This is a direction we must consistently support. I want this message to be clear. We are not talking about purely theoretical fields or about a few limited projects that may take place in the distant future.

We are talking about training specialists in areas of interest, NOW.

We are talking about well-paid jobs, NOW.

We are talking about having a presence in fields you may have heard something about: IT, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, technologies in the automotive industry, health technologies, green transition, microelectronics, and many others.

All of these are fields in which a large number of projects are already being carried out in partnership between companies and universities or research institutes. The business environment has sent a clear signal: Romania can become a regional hub for technology and innovation if we consistently support research and partnerships with universities.

When we discuss the budget, it is important to understand that every leu invested in universities and research returns in the performance of the industry in the country, in well-paid jobs, in economic competitiveness, and in our ability to create new economic initiatives. Not in the coming years, but starting this year. That is why it is vital to understand one thing: private money cannot do everything alone. Private investments need modern public infrastructure. Without high-performance laboratories in universities, without a highly qualified human resource, and without clear mechanisms for technology transfer, the potential of these 1.6 billion lei risks being underutilized.

I believe that this is an area where, when we talk about the budget for this year, we can demonstrate that we are not just looking to cut expenses. We can show that we do not only want to cut budgets but also to invest in the future. And it is important to align the state's efforts with the dynamics of private investments.

The solution for the 2026 budget is not cutting, but aligning the state's efforts with the dynamics of private investments. We must continue to strengthen partnerships between companies and universities and stimulate long-term investments in research infrastructure.

It is time to support areas of interest, not just to cut their funding.