On May 6 this year, at 9:30, the General Assembly of the Academy of Romanian Scientists will take place, with a physical presence, in the Hall of the Central University Library.
The general assembly will be followed by the AOSR Awards Gala for 2020. The costume of the Academy will be worn at this festivity.
PROPOSALS FOR MEMBERS OF AOSR 2022 – CVs CAN BE FOUND ON THE SITE UNDER MEMBERS / SECTIONS
NAME SURNAME
Mathematical Sciences: MOROȘANU GHEORGHE
Physical sciences: CIUREA MAGDALENA, ALEXANDRU HORIA
Chemical Sciences: TOMOAIA COTIȘEL MARIA
Geonomic Sciences: POPA MIHAELA
Technical Sciences: CIOCA LUCIAN IONEL
Economic, Legal and Sociological Sciences: GRIGORESCU ADRIANA
Science and Information Technology: BURILEANU CORNELIU
CORRESPONDING MEMBER PROPOSALS2022– SUMMARIES CAN BE FOUND ON THE SITE UNDER MEMBERS / SECTIONS
NAME SURNAME
Mathematical Sciences: SASU BOGDAN
Physical sciences: TEODORESCU VALENTIN
Chemical Sciences: GRUMEZESCU ALEXANDRU MIHAI
Biological Sciences: PETRESCU CAMELIA, OLARIU LAURA, KOZMA ANDREI
Technical Sciences: ANTONIAC VASILE IULIAN, NECULA HORIA, DINCĂ CRISTIAN
Medical Sciences: DIACONU CAMELIA, JINGA VIOREL
Economic, Legal and Sociological Sciences: VEDINAȘ VERGINIA
History and archeology: ZAINEA ION, STOICA LASCU
Science and Information Technology: FLOREA ADINA MAGDA, BARBU TUDOR
1. Schools in general and universities in particular are undoubtedly the strongest concentrations of intellectual elites. Their mission is to ensure the moral and spiritual health of the nation through education, to prepare young people for life, thereby ensuring the future of the nation.
We regret to note that both the school and its servants, the teachers, are frequent targets of a stream of derogatory speeches. More or less knowledgeable people do not hesitate to characterize education as irrelevant, mediocre, outdated, poorly managed, disconnected from reality and especially disconnected from the labor market, etc. Isolated cases of academic or pedagogical malpractice are immediately and unjustly widespread throughout education.
Of course, education is a big system and has a certain inertia, which can appear as resistance to change. However, we must emphasize the efforts to modernize it, being significant the concepts that underlie this modernization: the concept of ” educated Romania” and the concept of ” competent Romania” . The most visible are the efforts to integrate the academic elite into what we call the digital age . We live today in an environment where digital technology means everything; information seeking, fun, communication, learning. The younger generation is rapidly entering the “digital age,” and students often know more about digital technology than their teachers.
In particular, we can observe the paradox that Romanians are known and feared as formidable hackers, but their talent in computer science is not found in a Romanian production of new technologies.
In the digital age, Romanian universities need to make more use of e-learning, to learn how to learn, so that graduates become a flexible class and able to constantly acquire new skills.
2 . The economic elite of academic expression is made up of professors, researchers, specialized journalists, analysts, etc., through whose activity are formed both professionals in the field and especially the currents of opinion in the economic field.
If we refer to the schools in the economic field, we notice that the profile faculties are also caught in the vice of the need for self-financing, which generates the dilemma between accepting a large number of students, quantitative element, versus high performance, which requires exigency and consequence decrease in the number of students, but also in funding.
As a result, employers are playing an increasingly important role in the training of specialists, supplementing and supplementing through various programs what higher education has failed to do.
3. There is a clear trend in the services sector to expand the range of skills due to unusual tasks. ICT specialists need, for example, to acquire marketing or management skills, and service staff to acquire IT skills. There is a growing demand for transversal skills, such as analytical, communication, language skills, etc. In the EU, more than 17 million new jobs need to be created by highly skilled intellectual professions, such as management, marketing, logistics, teaching and technical positions.
The need for training and reform of the highly skilled workforce has also led to the creation of a European qualifications meta-framework, a tool capable of facilitating and promoting the transfer, transparency and recognition of skills and competences at European level.
In this context, the National Qualifications Framework in Higher Education (CNCIS) was introduced in Romania, which established the structure of qualifications, their national recognition, as well as their compatibility and international comparability.
The Europe 2020 strategy has pursued smart growth as a priority, ie economic development based on knowledge and innovation. Flagship initiatives cover topics such as “An Innovation Union”, “A Digital Agenda for Europe”, “An Agenda for New Skills and Jobs” and more.
TRomania’s Digital Transformation is already a current of opinion that is beginning to be present both in the circles of specialists in the ICT industry, but also in academia and in the Romanian media, especially in the last two years. PNRR funds that allocate 20% for the development of digital technologies are accelerating this trend, but we need to see if Romania has the teams and specialists, projects and integrators that can access this PNRR of potential billions of euros. Otherwise, the money allocated by the European Commission and not used by Romania will be redistributed to the countries that will fully fulfill their national plans. The competition is fierce and the EU must thus become the most dynamic continent by 2030.
What is the global context in this regard? After the Digitization of the 50s and 60s of the last century, the Digitization of the 70s and 80s, also known as Automation, we are now in full stage of Digital Transformation globally, according to all studies, reports and documentations of specialists of large multinational ICT companies, but also professors and researchers at Harvard, Oxford, MIT, Stanford and other top 10 universities globally. In Romania, too, we are seeing incipient steps in the Direction of the Digital Transformation, the phenomenon focused on focusing in the direction of the human factor in organizations, rather than on technologies, a real transformation of management towards a new stage of the Digital Economy 4.0.
In this context, the more the program is to be watched Academy of Romanian Scientists (AOSR), which dedicated a special conference Digital Transformation of the Romanian public institutions , which had as special guest Dragoș-Cristian VLAD, the presidentof the Romanian Digitization Authority , together with a series of personalities from AOSR, university professors, academics, public library managers from all over the country and specialists in the field of high technologies. The conference was initiated and moderated by the vice -president of AOSR, prof. Univ. Dr. Danciu Banciu.
We present below a summary of the online event, stating that the entire conference can be watched in the video material in this article.
Conference with the theme “Digital Transformation of Public Institutions” , organized on April 28, 2022, by the Academy of Romanian Scientists – Department of Economic, Legal and Sociological Sciences and The “CONSTANTIN ANGELESCU” Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Research (ICAI) precedes the AOSR’s spring scientific conference, which will take place between May 6-7 and will deal with the phenomenon of Digital Transformation worldwide and nationally.
Prof. univ. Dr. Doina BANCIU – Vice President of the Academy of Romanian Scientists – initiator and moderator of the conference –“Digital transformation of society in the context of EU strategy “
The AOSR official emphasized the importance of Digital Transformation in public institutions in Romania, taking into account the evolution of the European context and the PNRR framework, with an emphasis on the development of public libraries that need to be digitized, digitized and digitally transformed. The detailed and documented presentation (with slides) of Doina Banciu is present in the film of the conference, being a useful material for the professionals in the field of Bibliology and Information Science.
“Issues related to digitization – digitization – digital transformation have not appeared in this decade, they have been in the attention of the European Commission since 2000-2005, when a series of very interesting plans were launched such as eEurope (this targeted the EC countries and specified strategic directions for the implementation of the information society). Then followed, for the countries that were to join the European Union, respectively for Romania and Bulgaria, the Europe + plan, which specified a series of actions, activities that the countries had to do to move to the implementation of the information society among the economies. respectively. Other plans follow, including the 2014 eEurope Digital Agenda for Europe, which set out the strategic points that any national strategy must address so that it can move towards a fair and coherent approach to society. The plans related to the Digital Agenda have been translated into digital strategies in each country and there was also such a strategy in Romania that was promoted at national level by the Ministry of Communications and Information Society at that time, with the participation of many specialists in public administration. . In 2021, Ursula van der Leyen launched the new European strategy, which must, in fact, represent the journey in the field of information technology in Europe, so as to move from digitization-digitization to digital transformation. The main pillars of this strategy are skills (citizens’ skills), infrastructure (infrastructure development), attention to the business environment (mainly SMEs). It is expected that more than 80% of Europe’s citizens will have skills in the field of information technology, the infrastructure will have extremely high connectivity, and more than 90% of SMEs will have at least basic skills and the necessary to use information technology. and three-quarters of large companies to be able to use cloud services, so practically to operate based on cloud-type IT structures.
The last pillar, but by no means the least important, is e-government, which also gave the title to this debate – The digital transformation of public institutions. The public administration needs to change its concepts and procedures in order to be able to implement and move towards digital transformation by 2030.
These are the four pillars on which we must rely in our national strategy, adapted, of course, to the Romanian needs. Unfortunately, I have to tell you that in international statistics we have lost even the 4th place in the speed of the Internet and we are not placed in the leading places in the field of digitization. That is why I believe that the notions must be transformed into real strategies, with real steps, with appropriate funding. If we are talking about skills – what is actually happening in our society – there is an analog generation (+65 years), a digital generation (4-25 years) already accustomed to electronic / digital communications and a generation that we we all rely on the development of society, namely the functional generation, which has gone through the stages of digitization – digitization – digital transformation. This generation does not refer, unfortunately, to the whole society, so the digital divide or digital rupture exists in the Romanian society. Institutions such as libraries, schools, try to bring to a comparable level how to write, read or pay with the computer for all young people and citizens in general. There is a European strategy that we need to align with, and the whole of society is changing, hence the notion of digital transformation.
The workforce is relocated, professional nomads have appeared, who work for entities located even on other continents and who have a different approach to the existence of the administration. For them, an online interface with administrative procedures must be provided, not to mention that these professional nomads have countless online debates. The second important issue related to the labor force in the knowledge society is that the means of work are increasingly based on IT&C. There is talk of artificial intelligence, smart equipment, devices, practically everything that means competitive has an IT & C component. The object of work for most of the digital workers becomes mainly informational content, no matter what activity they carry out.
The digital transformation can mean a new social pact, in which research and innovation must have their place, which must be done not out of goodwill and passion. Passion must be just an engine, and the administration must support research and innovation for the benefit of society as a whole. Then I mention the extremely important role of teachers. Teachers and education in general for the 3 levels we have shown must be a permanent element present in the digital transformation of society because including digital ethics – education and pedagogical skills combined with digital must be an important pillar of digital transformation . Otherwise we cannot discuss the achievement of the pillars of the European strategy.
If we are talking about SMEs, large and small companies, that accept digital transformation, there must be managers with a managerial vision who can transform their procedures based on knowledge management, who understand that it is much easier, convenient and efficient. to keep your information in a digital, cloud-like structure, whose security, safety, communication is handled by specialists other than those in the company you run. Whether we are talking about private or public administration companies, staff need to be motivated and accountable in a way that is not only financial but also well-constructed, well-designed and consistent.
I believe that the authorities need to create the legal and institutional framework to support the digital transformation, take into account the vulnerabilities of cybersecurity and information manipulation. I believe that this complex research – education – managerial visions – motivated staff – legislation actually means a new social pact, a new systemic approach such as authorities, decision makers and the categories mentioned above. ”
Prof. univ. dr. eng. Adrian BADEA, President of AOSR “We live in a knowledge-based society, and I want to remind you that 420 years ago the English Enlightenment philosopher Francis Bacon argued that ‘knowledge is power.’ It is clear that those countries that have built their development on knowledge, on science, on education manage to evolve permanently, while the other countries have development problems. Shakespeare said, for example, that ignorance is God’s curse, and knowledge is the wing with which we go to heaven. This age of knowledge cannot be achieved without relying heavily on computerization. AOSR has always been a promoter of innovative ideas based on science and knowledge. ”
Prof. univ. dr. Nicolae DĂNILĂ, President of the AOSR Section of Economic, Legal and Sociological Sciences “Romania needs to pursue and integrate the European Union’s strategy and policies on digitization in order to benefit from better integration, cooperation with other countries and to apply internationally promoted innovation earlier, to benefit from EU funding allocated to this process. qualitative transformation in all areas. The EU wants Europe to move to a new milestone, namely “Strategic strategic autonomy” , which will be characterized by the European Union’s ability to act sovereignly and independently worldwide as a advocate for a rules-based multilateral system, as a to work very well. Macroeconomic stability is a precondition for achieving EU and national goals. Economic growth will be supported, among other things, by institutions, policies, resources, to achieve a green economy and to produce the desired digital transformation. The heart of the process of transforming society and its transition to a new qualitative historical level is digitalization itself. I emphasize that digitalization, like other policies of transformation and progress, must be completed by ensuring prosperity, sustainability and inclusion for Romanian society.
In my opinion, the digitalization of financial-banking institutions represents a solution in the process of digital transformation of the Romanian society. The advancement of technology has a significant impact on the way financial markets operate. Financial institutions are investing in automation and innovation to take advantage of the competitive advantage generated by these processes. Digitization is becoming important in terms of how financial market players operate. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the implementation of new technologies to obtain as much information as possible in a timely manner and to respond quickly to market demands. Digitization generally requires immense human and financial resources. We need to benefit from the next generation EU and other European funds. A major contribution will be the way we use the money from the PNRR, in the context in which almost 60% of the EU budgets of the PNRR are directed towards the green economy and digitalization. Global post-pandemic analyzes have shown that in countries where digital infrastructure has been implemented and developed, businesses and households have been heavily incentivized to digitize. To do this, governments and other official institutions need to create the eligible framework and contribute massive investments in areas of strategic importance, in order to avoid a possible digital financial divide.
Innovation and digital transformation will require the transition from a Faster – Better – Cheaper business model to a progressive one that achieves the main goal with a better risk tracking solution. I believe that we need to be part of and stick to the EU’s strategy, which is to make Europe a global digital player. ”
Dragoș-Cristian VLAD, President of the Romanian Digitization Authority ADR published and presented to the e -Government and bureaucracy reduction, last week, on April 19, a report through which we made a reference analysis at the level of 2020 of digitized services, respectively the data of the first monitoring of the degree of digitization of information systems. The data represent a status report of the digitalization of the public administration in Romania focused on life events.
Unfortunately or fortunately we have a starting point, respectively 21% of the public services of the Romanian state are digitized. The target is 100% for 2030. In order to reduce this gap from the current level to the level of 2030, the Romanian state must take some measures. In the last 3 months since I have been in charge of ADR, I have struggled to put on the table of the Government and in the attention of the civil society some main data for fixing the legal framework.
Just today, I will support in Parliament the approval in the specialized commissions of the Open Data Law, which represents a first level. Any public institution has the obligation to provide those data sets for processing by both academia and the private sector regarding the activity of central and local institutions. In February, together with my former colleague from ADR, Sabin Sărmaş, we reactivated the interoperability law that will create that framework for the relationship between the computer systems of various institutions that represent unique truth data, namely the government cloud law.
We have in mind three main laws that I consider useful to overcome a barrier in which the Romanian state was somewhat captive in developing island IT systems by fields of activity. The EU funds and promotes digitization and automation of various flows both in the administration and in the business sectors. For the administration these are called life events.
Through the operational programs with European financing, the financing on fields of life events will be continued and complementary to these European financings we have PNRR. This recovery and resilience program is a major opportunity for the Romanian state, through which we try to standardize certain processes and relationships between existing systems, respectively setting a cloud governance strategy, which are extremely important. It must represent a course of action for each state in its evolution, an action plan that must be followed and maintained. The government cloud can be an opportunity for every type of entity in Romania, through which they can share and store files and develop digital public services.
I invite you to help the state institutions and especially the RDA in finding the most appropriate legal framework for future strategies. At the ADR level, imported projects are being developed, unique and relevant for future strategies. I would only mention 3 – the unique identification platform that will represent a gateway to the government cloud. Specifically, this computer system will connect with a single account on all government platforms, it is a project in implementation. We hope that by the end of 2022 it will bring this facility.
Another project being implemented is the interoperability of the Member State of Romania with the information systems of the European Union, that exchange of data between Member States so that on various services there is created the mechanism for exchanging data between systems. Here I want to make a remark – I found this project at ICI Bucharest in 2004 – respectively the Grid project. The origin of my career is at ICI Bucharest, where I had a lot to learn during 2000-2006.
Last but not least, we develop at ADR various projects that define strategies and policies related to advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain. In conclusion, I wanted to start a mandate and bring an honest x-ray to the table of civil society – unfortunately we are not well, we are at 21% with digitized public services, but the premises are to change this value. We need to unify the island’s information systems that do not immediately have an impact on the citizen, to interconnect them and to find those public services that will help the citizens.
I would like to point out another opportunity for which we are fighting for ADR, brought by PNRR, respectively the “digital transformation” in the sector of central and local public libraries. The PNRR has included a funding line for the digitization of library content and more. I hope that this investment will come to the assent and support of the structures that deal with this field and to bring the content in digital format to the citizens, to be able to access the libraries and from home, with the help of devices, not to the detriment of the classical study. it’s valuable by touching books, but we also need technology these days. ” ….continue oncomunic.ro
During the Monthly Meeting of Branch Members Moderator – prof. Univ. Dr. Victor Ciupină , President of the AOSR Branch
Lecturer – Dr. Eng. Dumitru MANOLE , MA of AOSR, President of the Association for Sunflower Culture, Member of the International Sunflower Association Co-referents: prof. Univ. Dr. Adrian BAVARU , mo al AOSR., prof. univ. dr. eng. Aurel LUP , mt of AOȘR
The event takes place at the headquarters of SC Sport-Agra Ltd. Amzacea (Constanța County), str. Zorelelor no. 4 – Saturday, April 9, 2022 , 11 a.m. –
The Academy of Romanian Scientists, through the Department of Economic, Legal and Sociological Sciences and the Institute of Advanced Interdisciplinary Research “Constantin Angelescu” organized on Thursday, April 28, 2022, a conference with a topical topic: “The digital transformation of public institutions ”.
The conference was attended by over 90 people, representatives of public administration, academia and research, business with concerns in the field, people of culture, sociologists. It is worth noting the presence of many academics from the University of Bucharest, the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, the Academy of Economic Studies, the National School of Political and Administrative Studies, the Technical University of Timisoara, the “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu.
The conference was moderated by prof. Univ. dr. eng. Doina Banciu, vice-president of AOSR, who also gave an intervention during the works. In the opening of the conference, he sent a greeting message to prof. Univ. Dr. Eng. Adrian Badea, President of AOSR, who briefly presented the programs and concern of the institution for debating issues of interest in society.
Presentations were given by Dragoș Cristian Vlad, President of the Romanian Digitization Authority, who was Keynote speaker of the conference, academician Florin Filip, President of the Department of Information Technology, Romanian Academy, prof. Univ. dr. George Grigoriță, University of Bucharest, Faculty of Orthodox Theology, univ. prof. dr. Virginia Vedinaș, University of Bucharest, prof. univ. dr. Nicolae Dănilă, prof. univ. Dr. Agnes Erich, President of the National Library Commission, Prof. Univ. Dr. Dumitru Borţun, SNSPA.
Mister. Dragoş Vlad presented the Authority’s projects, insisting on the need to develop a government cloud, legislation to support digital transformation, as well as the need for cooperation and collaboration with renowned specialists in the field. Acad. Florin Filip pointed out that the Romanian Academy has been concerned with the development of the Information Society since the 2000s and has published significant reports and documents which it has sent to both the Parliament and the Government. Mister. Nicolae Dănilă pointed out the essential changes that can appear in the banking system in the context of the digital transformation, but also the challenges that must be taken into account in the financial system. An extremely interesting communication was presented by Mr. George Grigorita, who showed the ways in which the Orthodox Church has adopted new technologies and stressed that the institution is concerned with respect for man and his freedoms. Ms. Agnes Erich pointed out that libraries support the digital transformation through their ongoing actions and will try to obtain the necessary funds through projects funded by PNNR. Ms. Virginia Vedinaș presented the draft Code of Administrative Procedure and mentioned the importance of an appropriate legislative instrument for the digital transformation of the administration. Mr. Dumitru Bortun had a presentation focused on sociological aspects, while showing social issues that hinder the development of digital transformation of the administration.
Ms. Doina Banciu presented the digital transformation of public institutions and issues related to skills, IT infrastructure, management in the context of the European strategy in the field until 2030. In his presentation, he stressed that in order to achieve the digital transformation of society, a systemic management is needed that takes into account education at all levels, the economic environment, public administration, the legislative framework.
During the discussions, several speeches were noted. Prof. univ. dr. Ion Popa, dean of the Faculty of Management, ASE Bucharest, emphasized the role of managerial training of students in the context of the knowledge society, Mr. Dragoș Neagu, director of the Brăila County Library, showed the preparation of librarians to meet the new requirements, Mr. Vasile Dinu, ASE Bucharest, stressed the importance of specialized publications, and Mr. Daniel Fodorean, dean of the Faculty of Baptist Theology, Baptist Theological Institute, the requirements of online teaching and learning in the new context of digital transformation.
The conclusions of the conference stressed the need for further debates on this topic, to be organized together with the Romanian Academy, branch academies and other institutions that can contribute to the digital transformation of society.
The conference papers will be broadcast on Radio Romania channels, AOSR partner.
Communication and Public Relations Office of the Academy of Romanian Scientists (Contact: comunicare.aosr@gmail.com ) Bucharest, 29.04.2022
More active involvement of Romanian banks in the national effort to get the country out of the crisis and the successful implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan
1. CHALLENGES FOR THE BANKING SYSTEM
An opinion often expressed both among specialists and at the political level is that, despite the medical crisis doubled by the economic one, the banking system has strengthened, having a capitalization in accordance with current regulations, especially in the context in which it enjoyed and still enjoys a climate of support and assistance from the government and the central bank for businesses, households and banks.
However, a “forward looking approach” on banking activity and balance sheets highlights important vulnerabilities: insufficient provisioning, low profitability, declining revenues and unsustainable changes in their structure, lack of objective adjustments needed in the business model. The initiatives are mostly focused mainly on cost reduction (staff reduction, closure of banking units), telework, reconfiguration of internal processes, digitization, etc.
At the same time, there are new challenges caused by the inflation of assets due to excess liquidity, low interest rates, as well as the speculative climate in the world of digital assets.
Based on these realities, it is imperative that banks urgently implement internal plans and strategies that strengthen risk management, meet compliance requirements, improve internal audit, ensure alignment with best practices in corporate governance, and increase the efficiency of the use of internal resources, primarily human resources (the main resource for a credit institution). All these efforts will contribute to increasing the capacity to implement sustainable structural transformations.
The banking activity will take place in an increasingly complex national and international context, characterized mainly by:
a. Strengthening the role of banks as the main financiers of companies and households by using capital market tools and platforms, in addition to traditional instruments and products
b. Spectacular developments in the corporate credit market through the development of the Next Generation EU and the completion of the projects of the Banking Union and the Capital Markets Union. This achieves, among other things, a broadening of the range of solutions, products, services and tools associated with financing processes.
c. The European Green Deal, a project financed with over 1 trillion Euros through Invest EU. Banks will enter a period of implementation and implementation of internal decisions to adjust the activity to reach targets with a time horizon of 2050 (experts could notice here a potential conflict between climate and environmental targets on the one hand and the required targets of shareholders and regulators regarding financial results and indicators)
d. The rapid transition to a new paradigm for the delivery of banking products and services in an increasingly digital economy, with a strong focus on the “client experience” area and in the context of fierce competition from technology players (fintechs)
e. Transformations in the European financial infrastructure. I am referring to the initiation of measures towards the use of digital currencies by central banks under the pressure of geopolitical changes and expectations for a more proactive monetary policy. Close cooperation is required between central banks, supervisors, regulators, commercial banks and non-bank financial players.
In short, we are witnessing a complex process of streamlining, consolidating, digitizing and reducing costs.
2. PROCESSES AND TRENDS AT THE LEVEL OF EU FINANCIAL MARKETS At European level, the authorities have already set priorities for the transition to a digital and green economy. Taking into account their implications for the financial sector, amendments are proposed to the legal and regulatory framework leading to the strengthening of the banking and insurance sectors, the completion of Banking and Capital Markets projects, and the intensification of measures to combat money laundering. of money. The continued and consistent involvement of governments through economic and fiscal policies is required to create the conditions for a return to a sustainable and high-quality growth trend. Within the policy mix, central banks will play an important role, aiming both to protect and strengthen financial stability, as well as the potential for growth and modernization of the national economy, and to keep inflation within the parameters appropriate to the targets proposed for each stage.
In the context of the above-mentioned context, in which banking institutions are called upon to swiftly implement transition strategies and plans to achieve European targets for climate change and the business environment, the deepening of government-central bank-commercial bank collaboration is envisaged. to find solutions to mitigate systemic sustainability risks that may affect long-term financial stability.
EU-level banking authorities point out that many banks are vulnerable to objective adjustments in the European market, including:
Impairment of assets and increase in non-performing loans, a process that requires capital increases and adjustment of liquidity buffers.
Changes and new requirements regarding regulations related to crisis management, resolutions and bank liquidations. Some officials strongly recommend the transformation of bank subsidiaries into branches in the case of cross-border banking groups; this strategy would allow parent banks to decide whether or not to help their units in other countries in times of stress and crisis (but such a measure would have major consequences and challenges for countries currently hosting subsidiaries of foreign banking groups).
Delays in completing the long-awaited European deposit guarantee project
Continuing the process of bank consolidation in the face of increasingly complex and challenging competitive pressure
The digitization process
Banks certainly need adequate lending capacity, and the process of building and developing lending capacity must be carried out firmly, but also with caution. Maintaining state support policies for businesses and households, phased out after the current pandemic, can support the recovery of the national economy. Let us not forget, however, that the challenges related to the pandemic will be replaced almost immediately by those generated by the implementation of the Basel III requirements and the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive.
I believe that the FINAL TARGET OF STRUCTURAL CHANGES AND REFORM IN THE BANKING SYSTEM MUST BE AIMED AT INCREASING ITS CAPACITY TO FINANCE THE REAL ECONOMY AT A SUSTAINABLE LEVEL.
3. MORE ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT OF ROMANIAN BANKS IN THE NATIONAL EFFORT TO COME OUT OF THE CRISIS COUNTRY AND SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE PLAN
There is a broad consensus on the idea that during the current pandemic and economic crisis the banking system was and will be part of the solutions. Despite all the challenges it has to face, I believe that the Romanian banking system must and can consolidate and develop its position in the direction of recovery and development of the national economy throughout this stage with a strong transformational character.
The continued involvement of the state, the government, through firm measures to support companies and households can and must be strengthened by the active involvement of banks. The key to success will be the construction of an effective and efficient public-private partnership that will get out of the deadlock viable companies with major potential to contribute to meeting Romania’s domestic needs and the supply of goods and services for export (one of the most important solutions). stopping the deterioration of the indicators specific to Romania’s foreign trade relations).
I expect a more sophisticated approach from banks in terms of solutions and financing offer, to increase the “classic” approach while using tools and solutions specific to the capital market (converting debt into shares, supporting companies for listing, issuing shares and bonds, financing private-equity and venture capital). In all these cases, success will be boosted by banks taking on a role underwriter . The difference in terms and conditions between financing for large and small companies, which is currently significant, must be reduced by concrete measures in favor of SMEs, which also benefit from the contribution of favorable government policies. More diversified and high-volume financing for this key sector of the economy is of critical importance and should not be long in coming.
I also believe that a stronger involvement of commercial banks is needed in order to support the policies of central banks in the fight against inflation and the specific phenomena of the foreign exchange market, in order to strengthen the climate of financial stability.
I am of the opinion that in the current and immediately following stage there is a need for an involvement and an effective role of the banks in the development of the Program. Next Generation EU by adopting a modern business model, aligned with a “customer-centric” philosophy. Next Generation EU cannot be a success story without the support of banks. Banks should be prepared to carry out financing in all their phases: pre-financing, bridge-loans, financing in the operational stages of projects, as well as investment loans.
Much has been written and discussed about the phenomenon of digitalization of the banking offer. I do not insist, but I remind you that we are witnessing a process by which financial services become “modular”: digital distribution platforms, new providers of financial services and products appear, alternative sources of capital are developing, the appetite for ” outsourcing ” is increasing.
As mentioned earlier, banks at European and national level need to build sufficient lending capacity. The process of building credit capacity must be carried out on two levels: the bank must be firmly committed in this direction, but at the same time exercise caution. Certainly Romania, like many other European countries, will maintain certain facilities for players in the economy for a while, but gradually they will be reduced or eliminated. Also with reference to the previous mentions, also at the level of the Romanian market, the challenges for banks will be amplified in relation to the implementation of the requirements. Basel III et al Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive. In all this context, it is necessary for banking regulations and supervision to maintain a sustainable balance between the process of increasing the resilience of the Romanian banking system and ensuring sufficient flexibility for banks to be actively involved in supporting the real economy.
The policy mix, mainly monetary and fiscal policy, needs a better correlation to ensure their efficiency and to be able to move as quickly as possible to the “new normal”, characterized by greater stability and predictability. I also consider here the coordination of these policies with the regulations and supervision of the financial markets.
Imbalances in the structure, form and source of financing for companies can create a major problem for them, especially in the case of those who suffer from a continuous deterioration of profitability, of financial indicators in general. For viable companies or of major local / national importance, a capital injection will be needed, accompanied by investments in R&D and digitization.. Equity financing it becomes essential in many scenarios and that is why the development of the capital market and the increasing capacity of banks to cooperate with players and to use the tools of this market become imperative. Thus, the premises of a much more diversified range of products and ways of financing companies and households appear. MAINTAINING THE EXCESSIVE DEPENDENCE OF FIRMS AND HOUSEHOLDS ON BANK FINANCING CONTRIBUTES TO INCREASING THE RISK OF PROCYCLING IN THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM, A PHENOMENON THAT HAS APPEARED IN A MISCELLANEOUS MEASURE.
The involvement of the banking market and the capital market in financing the real economy is a fundamental element in terms of the EFFICIENT USE OF ROMANIA’S FINANCIAL and HUMAN RESOURCES, while contributing to increasing the confidence of economic players in the financial system, in the process of saving and investing, in the context of the construction of the new ecosystem Forward-looking.
The efficient and productive use of the country’s financial resources, especially the savings made by households and companies, thus becomes a NATIONAL PRIORITY.
COMMERCIAL BANKS WITH MAINLY ROMANIAN CAPITAL, STATE OR PRIVATE CAPITAL, ARE FUNDAMENTAL INSTITUTIONS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SOME PROGRAMS FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF THESE BANKS BECOMES A PRIORITY, FOCUSING ON MODERN STRATEGIES, BUSINESS PLANS AND BUSINESS MODELS, BASED ON BEST PRACTICES IN THE FIELD AND BY THE GOVERNMENT AND THE GOVERNMENT. We need to quickly regain the potential for national added value lost by knowingly or unknowingly ignoring national and international OPPORTUNITIES that have accompanied the challenges posed by the financial crisis and the pandemic crisis. We need banks owned mainly by Romanian capital that are stable and competitive, with an adequate capacity to finance the real economy, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The pandemic has accelerated two important areas: sustainable financing and digitalisation. All the more so as we need a strong national financial system accompanied by a solid market infrastructure.
Commercial banks should not forget their long-term mission in a national market: MAINTAINING A SUSTAINABLE BALANCE BETWEEN THE REQUIREMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS AND THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE COMPANY, THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES, THE ACCOUNTANT AND THE EMPLOYEE OF THE EMPLOYEE IT IS ABOUT THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN THE SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL PROJECT OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MORAL PRINCIPLE OF ‘GIVING BACK’. ACHIEVING THE FINANCIAL INCLUSION AND INCREASING ROMANIA’S BANKING DEGREE (STILL AT A VERY LOW LEVEL) REPRESENTS ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS AND SOLUTIONS FOR THE CONTINUOUS EXISTENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF SUMMARY BANKING.
I conclude by referring to the EU’s Sustainable Financing Strategy, which calls for stronger involvement of the national and European banking system to support the transition to a sustainable economy, which is unfortunately increasingly affected by change. climate and geopolitical. The following strategic directions are foreseen:
Implement policies and instruments to finance transition plans to address the challenges posed by climate change and the environment for each national economy and the EU as a whole
Access to sustainable financing for SMEs and households
National and European support for the banking system in meeting the requirements of the European Green Deal, an initiative that can build on strong national economies with sustainable programs and policies
Promoting European economic and financial cooperation
GLASGOW’S RECENT SUMMARY ON CLIMATE CHANGE WILL PROMOTE AND AMPLIFY THESE DIRECTIONS THROUGH NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MANDATORY TARGETS AND COMMITMENTS.
Thank you,
Prof. Univ. Dr. Nicolae Dănilă
Speech at the Conference “Building the Post-Pandemic World – The Path to a more sustainable, resilient and safe society”, Bucharest 1-12 November 2021
