The Role of SMEs in the Development of Romanian Rural Areas. Case Study: Sucarpathian Rural Area between Buzãu and Slãnic Valleys (Buzãu Subcarpathians)

Romanian rural areas are a sector that, in the context of transition from socialist economy to market economy, has accumulated numerous dysfunctions, whose resolution requires the identification of viable solutions that are compatible with local potential and at the same time preserve traditional features. In this context SMEs play an active part and are very important because they allow the absorption of a percentage of the population laid off in the wake of economic reorganization that plagued post-1989 Romanian society, as well as the rapid diffusion of innovation in the territory. They can be considered local sources of discontinuity, which serve to enhance and propagate economic growth in the territory, implicitly bringing about a rise in living standards. After 1989, the rural sub-Carpathian area between Buzãu and Slãnic valleys was characterized by changes in economic structure, with a strong impact on the population and on the organization of rural communities. In this context, the features of SMEs during 1994-2006 were analyzed, which highlighted their increase in numbers, more than threefold, during the respective period.