The caravan moves on

Only recently, Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia moved production from a plant in the German city of Bochum to Jucu in Romania. Now Romania is facing a similar plight: the Swedish furniture company Ikea has closed down a supplier in the Romanian city of Siret owing to high production costs. 500 people will lose their jobs as a result. The daily Evenimentul Zilei calls for a step-up in regional development measures: "We cannot even claim that this is punishment from the Gods for what we did to the Germans in Bochum when we convinced Nokia to come to Jucu. ... Ikea's leaving Siret is a blow for a region that seldom generates good news. The region of Bukovina is blessed with a unique landscape and other treasures but it has no trumps to attract investors. ... What happened in Siret could happen anywhere. Jucu could one day become another Bochum. Ikea's decision underscores how important the efforts towards regional development are. ... Whether we like it or not, we are competing with far more countries and regions than we think. ... So we cannot afford to sit back and relax."

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