As part of a business trip, I went to Bucharest, where Wipro Technologies also operates a development center. My expectations were perhaps a little exaggerated, as I had put the city in the same league as Zagreb or Budapest. This meant that I was very disappointed with Bucharest as a city, and this extended to the architecture, infrastructure and service orientation.

Bucharest or Romania is a very popular destination for the so-called "near-shoring" of IT services. Here, the service is provided from a low-wage country, but this is relatively close to the headquarters of the commissioning company. In contrast, there is "off-shoring", where the service is provided from countries such as India or China. In this context, one could perhaps speak of Bucharest as the European India.

This impression is actually confirmed upon first contact with the city: the traffic is comparably chaotic, although there is less honking. Instead of the expected "old" architecture, there are concrete buildings that bear witness to the time of the socialist regime, and new architecture bears a striking resemblance to the sprawl of Indian cities.

One positive aspect, however, is that the country has no problems with electricity and clean water supplies. Apart from the very improvised driving style, public transport is reliable and there is also a tram. The international airport, on the other hand, has only 6 gates - surprisingly few for the capital of an emerging economy.

When it comes to service orientation, however, Bucharest residents can still learn a lot from the Indians. When exchanging the local currency, you may be loudly thrown out of the shop because you don't have any coins. The fact that the airport's duty-free shop doesn't accept your own currency at all also seems a bit strange.

Otherwise, the country has huge potential. The GDP growth is in the range of the tiger economies and if you have a good business idea, Romania is definitely the right place for you. The price level is very pleasant and taking a taxi or eating out is becoming a pleasure again. However, the few good hotels are taking advantage of the shortage and charging unreasonable prices: EUR 240 for a single room (without breakfast) is definitely too much for the room and service offered. Incidentally, even international hotels are ripping you off: why else would the lei price be converted into euros using a very bad exchange rate before the credit card is charged?