"Probably the communication infrastructure is one of the key points. There are high costs for integrated services. If I�m in the office, I have the laptop or my video screen in front of me and I make my calls. I cannot have a video-conference with Bucharest today, it simply doesn�t work. But I can do it with Budapest. The second reason might be the liability of management tenants. We are investing a lot in local management. The third is people�s willingness to move to Bucharest. As for Cisco, we are looking for some Romanians who live abroad, so that we can get them back to work for us in Romania. So, over time, this situation should change, given the size of the Romanian market." [link]
Ok, this is the last answer from an interview with Michael Ganser, VP of Cisco Systems CEE. So for the first part of the answer keep in mind that the guy sells communication infrastructure, though he has a point and makes it - the infrastructure is poor in Romania, and broadband, the keyword of his speech, is EXPENSIVE, which is of course a consequence.
Neverthless, the reason for me quoting this is the acknowledgment of lack of qualified people and the (great) strategy of investing in local ones and mixing them with Romanians living abroad and brought back by the picture of a fat paycheck combined with the great opportunity of creating some value for the community they were raised in. Besides there's no great place like home. :)
They don't want to be ripped off. They don't like paying extra to corrupt officials to get the basics done. Romania just isn't ready to do 'serious' business.
I can assure you that none of the Romanians I know in business don't like to get ripped off or to pay extra under the bribes forms. I am not sure on how you define "serious" business, I believe that certainly there are plenty of opportunities to speculate on for any kind of returns for any kind of risk appetite. While it is true that there may still be cases of bribes being asked upfront or at least hinted at, I am also positive that there are ways of avoiding them or the officials asking if one wants to set up a decent business nowadays in Romania. As a matter of fact these days there's a scandal with a guy from ABB's management who bribed some Romanian officials - things may turn out nasty. This case and some of the ones made recently public as a result of the recent anti-corruption campaign Basescu initiated make people at least reluctant in asking for bribes. For the moment at least. Anyways, my take is that any serious business will not get discouraged in such cases, on the contrary. :) My 2 cents, of course.