Growth opportunities for Norwegian businesses in Romania

Foto: DigitalNorway

The second call for project proposals through the SMEs Growth Romania Programme was launced in January. The programme gives Norwegian companies the opportunity to work with Romanian counterparts.

On January 22 Innovation Norway organized the Business Conference and Matchmaking event “Innovation drives growth” in Bucharest, Romania. The conference marked the launch of the 2nd Call for Project Proposals of the SMEs Growth Romania Programme, which means that SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) are now able to send in project applications.

DigitalNorway was invited as one of the main speakers representing Norwegian businesses – specifically in our role in Norway on mobilizing digitalization among SMEs, policy actors, universities/research institutions and also large industries. This was an excellent opportunity to highlight DigitalNorway’s ongoing EU-projects, InnoCAPETRINITY and DIGI-B-CUBE. More than 65 participants from several EEA/Norway grants country attended the event.

Opportunities for Norwegian SMEs

The conference aimed at bringing together Norwegian and Romanian companies to explore and discuss possibilities for cooperation, and opportunities for sustainable business growth. Through the programme, Norwegian companies are able to become a project partner by finding a Romanian counterpart.

The Programme will finance projects proposed by Romanian enterprises in the three focus areas Green Industry Innovation, Blue Growth and ICT. The goal is to finance development and application of innovative green, blue or ICT technologies/products, processes and solutions. The expected outcome is increased competitiveness for Romanian enterprises within the mentioned areas, in the form of growth in turnover and net operational profit and job creation. Projects are also expected to contribute to the development and application of innovative technologies, processes and solutions, as well as reduction of CO2 emissions and more energy efficient production processes.