Romania Trying to Be an European Brand

Abstract

Building a coherent country branding program at international level requires a strong coordination between the government, the business sector, the decision makers from educational and cultural sector, the civil society and, the mass media representatives in any country.

The paper presents the main efforts Romania has done to build a country image with a significant impact at international level. It focuses on the main policies and programs applied by Romania in the specific field of the national branding, offering a good analysis on the institutional framework and experience in promoting the country’s image internationally. The paper presents also the results of a research conducted with different local authorities (based on personal interviews) involved in the construction and promotion of a national brand abroad. The findings of the study provide opinions on the implications of the role of Romania’s country image in the European Integration process. A SWOT analysis on the Romania’s policy for building a European country brand completes the conclusions and the perspective on this particular issue considered to be important for a European Union integrating country. Finally, the paper makes proposals for creating a positive country image for Romania, a country that is in the process of redefining its position and its image at international level. Romania’s image will be considered from the perspective of the four dimensions defining a country image (tourism, exports, foreign direct investments and foreign policy), as well as from the perspective of building an integrated image abroad.

Keywords: Country branding, country image, policy making, European integration