Dumitru Bârsan, president of the Alliance Strategy for Romania, published on 5 October, in Economistul, a position piece on the diaspora, entrepreneurs and investment. His central argument is that Romania should become, in his reading, a country worth building in — not only a place people leave or send money back to.

Bârsan writes that millions of Romanians abroad work, start businesses and raise families, yet their relationship with the state often shrinks to festive speeches, remittances and appeals for votes. The diaspora, he says, wants respect, representation, working consular services and recognition of experience, not the role of an electoral reservoir.

He anchors the text in personal experience: he worked in the diaspora and ran businesses in a system with clearer rules. He does not claim other states are perfect. The principle he repeats is that without people who work, invest and take risks there is no prosperity. Returning home, he adds, cannot be built on emotion alone.

The sharpest section is about entrepreneurs. Bârsan says that although they are called the “engine of the economy”, many are treated as permanent suspects: inspections without clear criteria, heavy procedures, shifting legislation and unpaid bills from the state. In this text ASR asks for stable rules, consultation before tax changes, a single digital contact point and a “stability contract”: the state does not change the rules overnight, pays its obligations and sanctions unfair competition; companies respect the law, employees and social contributions.

On investment, the article distinguishes capital that produces value from spending merely labelled as investment. Bârsan wants production, domestic supply chains, skilled labour and more value added kept in the country, plus infrastructure, agriculture with processing, energy and SMEs with more transparent financing. The diaspora is described as a possible strategic investor, with a one-stop desk and co-investment mechanisms kept free of political influence — alliance proposals, not adopted measures.

The piece closes with vocational education tied to the real economy and a state judged by results, deadlines and named officials. It contains no calendar, budget or draft law. This account does not adopt ASR’s slogan as an editorial line.

Image: official photograph of Dumitru Bârsan, press kit at danbarsan.ro, used editorially. Not an Economistul event.

Source consulted: Diaspora, entrepreneurs and investment: Romania must become a country worth building in — Economistul.ro.