Why Cluj?

Cluj-Napoca is considered to be the “heart of Transylvania”. It is a cosmopolitan European city, a key business destination for the South-eastern area of Europe, with a remarkable investment potential.

It is a multicultural city and a candidate for the European Cultural Capital in 2021, with real chances of success.

In Cluj-Napoca, the urban infrastructure is constantly developing, and sustained efforts are made to preserve its cultural and historical heritage. One of the city’s concerns also addressed by the Business Days platforms within the two round table debates organized in 2013 and 2014 in partnership with Cluj-Napoca City Hall, is the development of sustainable ecological strategies.

Cluj-Napoca is the 3^rd city in Romania in terms of inhabitants, having a population of 304,527, according to the data issued by the National Institute of Statistics (stable population as at January 1, 2014 consisting of people living within the city, with the domicile or residence in the city at that time). Another 150,000 people, of which around 100,000 students, supplement the city’s population, i.e. those who come to study in Cluj-Napoca and work in the city – without residing in Cluj-Napoca.

Due to the 11 universities based here, the city is considered to be one of the best places to study, in this part of Europe, and the career opportunities offered by Cluj-Napoca convince more and more university graduates to call Cluj their “home”.

In terms of graduates, Cluj-Napoca is ranked second in a national top with 10,656 graduates per year, of a national total of 111,028 graduates. The 1^st place is held by Bucharest with 33,833 graduates. The 3^rd place is held by Iasi with 9,594 graduates, followed by Timisoara with 7,253 and Brasov with 5,916.

The strategy of Cluj-Napoca is to become one of the most welcoming cities in Eastern Europe, where both inhabitants and tourists feel great. According to a report of the European Commission, Cluj-Napoca is considered to be the most welcoming city in Europe, 91% of its residents agree that foreign presence is a positive thing. At European level, only 6 cities have managed to pass the 70% threshold.

In terms of quality of life, Cluj-Napoca is ranked 53 in the global top published by the website Numbeo.com, outranking cities as Ankara (61), Paris (63), London (72), Buenos Aires (73), Bucharest (74), Athens (75), New-York (76), Rome (83). Numbeo.com took into account factors such as level of pollution, people safety, purchase power, crime rate and health system.

Cluj-Napoca was ranked third by Forbes magazine in the top Best Cities for Business in Romania. The top was developed based on ten criteria, each of which having a weight of 10% in its final determination: regional GDP, GDP per capita, average net salary, unemployment, foreign investments during 1991-2014, road infrastructure, railway infrastructure, number of active enterprises, number of homes and educational facilities impacting the labor market (vocational schools, universities).

The development of the city’s IT activity is likely to consolidate its position as the “Economic capital of Transylvania”.

Romania is in the top 50 countries in terms of attractiveness of an investment in the field of business services outsourcing, according to the ATKearney 2011 study “Global Services Location Index”. The criteria taken into account are: financial attractiveness, workforce qualification and availability and business environment.

Cluj-Napoca is a major BPO hub, due to the available skilled human resources. The advantages frequently mentioned in international studies and reports include: affordable costs, highly skilled workforce, spoken foreign languages, geographical positioning and time area GMT+2.

The last three advantages are decisive for easy and real-time communication with the rest of the continent.

The main services offered by the BPO centers in Cluj-Napoca are: finance & accounting outsourcing (FAO), human resources operations outsourcing (HRO), process outsourcing (PO), knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), contact center operations (CC) and industry-specific business processes (IS-BPO).

KPMG Advisory recently published the study “Exploring Global Frontiers”, which places Cluj-Napoca amongst the top 31 destinations for investments in information technology (IT), outlining the key aspects which make it attractive: specialists, costs and geographical positioning.

Cluj-Napoca has a significant IT potential, mainly due to the 1,500 specialists, graduates of one of the two top universities: the Cluj-Napoca Technical University and the Babeş-Bolyai University. Over 5,000 software engineers work in 100 companies based in Cluj-Napoca, which develop customized software and provide IT services.

Cluj-Napoca found a winning strategy for developing its capacity to offer IT outsourcing solutions. The companies based in this city have recorded a steady increase even during the recent financial crisis. Software engineers are appreciated for their technical skills and their knowledge of foreign languages: English, German and French.

Both local and foreign investors finance the IT sector in Cluj-Napoca. The invested foreign capital originates from the following countries: Germany (30%), U.K. (22%), the United States of America (15%) and the Netherlands (15%) are major investors, followed by: Austria (5%), Finland (4%), France and Sweden (3% each), Denmark and Switzerland (2% each) and Italy (0.5%).

The manufacturing industry accounts for 97.65% of the total industrial production of Cluj-Napoca. The engineering field has the largest share.

Value of exports: 1 billion Euro

• Main exported products: paper and cardboard; wood pulp, paper or cardboard products; garments and clothing accessories; footwear and other similar products; cast iron, iron and steel products; cauldrons, machinery and mechanical devices; electric machinery, devices and equipment and parts thereof; optical, photographic or cinematographic, measurement and control instruments and devices, pharmaceutical products, glass and glass products, furniture.

Value of imports: 600 million Euro

• Main imported products: coffee and tea; fuel, mineral oils and products resulting from distillation; organic chemical products; fertilizers; raw hides; paper and cardboard; cast iron, iron and steel products; cauldrons, machinery and mechanical devices; electric machinery, devices and equipment and parts thereof; ground vehicles other than railway; silk; cotton; synthetic or artificial fibers; furniture.

The largest company in Cluj county has foreign capital: MOL, and has an annual turnover of 10.8% of the cumulated turnover of the companies in the county (information from 2013)

The economic and social development, starting with the `90s, also reflected in the modernization of transport capacities. The favorable geographical positioning of the county is a decisive factor in the efforts made by authorities to develop the local infrastructure. Cluj county has a broad network of public roads totaling 2,454 km, of which 342 km are national roads. The network of modernized roads has 645 km, many being parts of roads of national and international roads. The length of the railways passing over the county is of 232 km.

The Cluj-Napoca International Airport, administered by the Cluj County Council, recorded a significant increase in passenger traffic following the development and modernization process, currently being the third international airport in the country. On this airport, scheduled flights are operated by four airlines, connecting Cluj to Spain, Italy, Austria, France, Great Britain, Belgium, Dubai, Switzerland, Israel, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Hungary and Germany by direct flights. At this time, the airport’s priority is to find partners for building a modern cargo terminal, project which is also supported by the government.