Invest in Jiu Valley: a platform that integrates investments opportunities
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Challenge
Jiu Valley is an area of about 130.000 inhabitants nowadays (from 160.000 in 1997), being in the core of the coal region in Europe with the highest level of depopulation according to EuroStat. The six municipalities contain 3 cities and 3 towns, all of them with the same mono-industrial pattern of economic growth and decline, but with specific natural and human resources. Being an academic center since 1948, it proves today to be the only university in Romania with the headquarters in a city outside the main county residence capitals. But the unfavourable image caused by social movements has managed to produce a general reluctance, doubled by the lack of investment in connectivity infrastructure. Today, the Jiu Valley is looking for new opportunities by aligning public investment programs with the possibility of contribution from private companies. Therefore, it was necessary to initiate a process to attract investors in the area, based on a favourable image that would highlight the competitive profile specific to the area.
Solution
Invest in Jiu Valley (www.investinjiuvalley.com) is a joint initiative of the 6 municipalities in Jiu Valley (Aninoasa, Lupeni, Petrila, Petroșani, Uricani, and Vulcan), together with some members of the civil society, aimed at attracting foreign investors.
Invest in Jiu Valley created the means to promote Jiu Valley at ExpoReal 2018 (through the financial support of the Hunedoara County Council through ADEH – Hunedoara County Economic and Social Development Agency), which meant the first presence of the region at an investment fair, as well as the participation in all events organised for the members of the Romanian delegation. Contacts were established with representatives of the business environment, co-exhibitors at the Romanian stand, and external exhibitors. Also, on this occasion, the team from the Jiu Valley experienced the requirements in presenting its own advantages and effective communication strategies in the investment environment.
The results include the partnership among the 6 public administrations in the Jiu Valley in attracting investors, an online platform to promote the Jiu Valley for potential investors and which include a database of infrastructure projects and investment opportunities, information on human capital regularly updated, facilities available to investors, as well as useful information to be included in promotional materials. The website www.investinjiuvalley.com is doubled by the social media profile (Instagram and Facebook), which can provide a favourable image of the context. The monthly impact at the launch of the program was 135,000 people from the international business environment.
Today, Invest in Jiu Valley is the only platform ready to provide real-time information on land available for investments in the 6 municipalities of the Jiu Valley. Given the advantages of such a platform, during the summer of 2022, a partnership between the Invest in Jiu Valley and the Hunedoara Prefecture will be materialised, and the initiative will be escalated at the county level. Thus, a favourable image is built over the entire county starting from the initiative of the local authorities in the Jiu Valley.