Romania: Perfect Choice for Travel, Living and Investments
Starting his career in the Israel military, Hezi Shayb served as naval officer for seven years and in 1988 retired from the Israeli army as a Major. Before becoming the Chairman of New Kopel Group, he worked in the insurance industry and in 2004 became the Vice President of one of the biggest insurance companies in Israel. Transferring to the automotive industry, Hezi Shayb became the CEO of Iveco, and afterwards the Deputy CEO of MCA Group. Currently working on PhD thesis in Crisis Management and holding the Chairman position of New Kopel Group, Hezi Shayb discusses his experience regarding living in Romania and shares his advice for success.
What makes Romania a unique destination both for travel and living?
Hezi Shayb: I had the chance to live in any country I wanted in Europe; I chose Romania because I saw wonderful things here and I simply fell in love with this country. At the beginning, I came to Romania for only a few days and after that for several weeks, but step by step I realized that I want to stay here. Romania is an amazing country, with breathtaking landscape, excellent economic potential and smart, motivated and success driven people.
I often drove around the country without previously set destination and every time I found myself in amazing places wondering how come nobody knows about them. This is why I decided to start the initiative #AlwaysYesToRomania. This project aims to promote less known beauties Romania has to offer; we visit different places, take photos and promote them via various digital influencers and media.
According to you, how can investors succeed in Romania?
Hezi Shayb: The potential for growth of Romania’s economy definitely lies within the small and medium enterprises. Statistics show that the number of SME’s is 500.000 in 2016, precisely at the same level as before the recession. These SME’s have energy, interest and flexibility to survive and to carry forward the growth of the country’s economy. This is exactly why in 2015 and 2016 New Kopel Group put its focus on SME’s and managed to increase its operational leasing customer portfolio by more than 20%.
However, in order to succeed anywhere, it is crucial to gain the trust of the employees, the suppliers and the customers. And at the end of the day, your leadership and management skills will define your success.
