BURSA newspaper organized on Wednesday, April 26, 2017, the 5^th edition of the “Women in Charge – A Better World” FEMALE ENTREPRENEURSHIP Conference, in partnership with the National Association of Entrepreneurs. Anca Vlad, the Honorary President of the Romanian Investors’ Employer Association (PIAROM) declared in the event that Romania was in one of the top places in the European Union with respect to the number of female entrepreneurs and women in leadership positions in private companies.

She also mentioned: “There is this idea that women in leadership positions, unlike men in the same positions, are too focused on the emotional side. Research proves otherwise, however. The decisions taken by female entrepreneurs are more often than not based on both intuition and reason. The Romanian private sector has understood this aspect, our country being in one of the top places in the European Union regarding the number of female entrepreneurs and women in leadership positions in private companies.”

Nevertheless, the private sector continues to be an area that poses numerous obstacles for women, Mrs. Vlad added, mentioning that Romania is in one of the last places in the European Union in respect of women’s involvement in public life from decision-making positions: “We refer here both to parliamentary activity and to public companies.”

According to her, in the month of February we had approximately 616,000 female entrepreneurs, 454,000 of whom were shareholders/partners in companies and 162,000 were self-employed (PFA or individual/family businesses).

The percentage of female entrepreneurs in companies is around 37%, with a tendency to grow (even if a relatively slow growth rate, of around 1% over the last five years), Anca Vlad also added.

She stated that: “Surprisingly enough, the «engines» are not Bucharest or counties like Ilfov, Cluj or Timis, but counties in the South-East region of the country – Tulcea, Braila, Galati – with percentages of over 40%. In terms of start-ups, the situation is even more encouraging: 47.6% of start-ups have been founded by women, peaking in the South-East (54.4%) and West (56.6%) regions. 64% of the entrepreneurs in the Romanian health and social sectors are women, a significant percentage of 58% above the European average.”

At the same time, Romania is in the fifth place in the EU in respect of women’s share of the total number of professionals in the industries dominated by liberal professions, Mrs. Vlad said, adding that: “Moreover, Romania is in the 8^th place in the EU regarding the percentage of women occupying management positions in companies with more than ten employees (41% compared to the European average of 35%). Meanwhile, Romania remains the European Union country with the lowest gap in wage between the men and the women occupying management positions in companies with more than ten employees.”

The founder of PIAROM also wanted to outline that we possess a high educational potential for female entrepreneurship: “According to the latest PISA surveys, Romania is among the 8 European countries (next to Finland, for example) where girls have obtained higher grades than boys in the Science subject matter.”

Women’s position in the private sector paints an encouraging image, outlining a perspective of development for female entrepreneurship, she concluded, adding that: “At the same time, women’s position in public decision-making situates us, in the European Union, in a shameful 3^rd place at the bottom of the list, with only 14.2% women parliamentarians. Worse than us are only Malta and Hungary. Poland, a country which represents the European average, has a percentage of women parliamentarians twice as high. It should be noted that France, Sweden and Bulgaria have governments made up of almost 50% women. We believe that it is high time for the state to generate those public policies that could lead to a growth in women’s involvement in politics and in decision-making positions in state companies.”

(source: www.bursa.ro)

“The distribution company Fildas Trading, founded by Anca Vlad, entered the top three players in the market of drugs distribution, after last year has recorded a turnover of 539 million EUR, with almost 45% more than in 2015, according to the calculations of Ziarul Financiar.

“The investments in human resources came first, almost 100 people being employed for the development of the distribution and logistics activity. Now we have reached a total of 860 employees. A lot of attention was also paid to the development in the IT field, and the upgrade of the used ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning- e.n.) systems was completed. The logistics spaces were enlarged and reorganized in Pitesti and Bucharest and the fleet of heavy trucks was replaced and expanded”, said Anca Vlad.

Also, last year Fildas added another 1 000 pharmacies in the list of clients supplied with drugs, increasing both the range of cosmetics and supplements, as well as the pharmaceutical portfolio. Currently, Fildas distributes 11 000 different products.

“With an approved budget of 10 million EUR, a logistics center will be built in Iasi and the substantial expansion of the logistics capacity in Bucharest and Cluj shall be achieved. The capacity of the offices held by Fildas in Bucharest shall also be increased”, said Anca Vlad.

One of the challenges identified by Anca Vlad on the market where she operates is to supply the Fildas customers with all the required goods, the founder of the company showing that there are over 250 drug shortages, especially in the diseases of diabetes, oncology and transplant. “We advocate for the total transparency of exports and to have the main focus on the needs of the health system in Romania”, said Vlad that characterized the distribution market as a “dynamic and highly competitive” one.

After the first four players in the profile market announced their financial results from last year, Fildas climbs one position and ranks third among the largest distributors, passing in front of Farmexim. It is the biggest increase in turnover from last year in relation with the other players who held the top positions in 2015, according to the data announced so far.

Fildas Trading operates on the local distribution market for more than two decades after, in 1991, Anca Vlad founded the company. In 1999, the entrepreneur decided to establish Catena, who became the leader of the pharmaceutical retailer in Romania.

The two companies in the pharma sector have been doing business together for over 1.1 billion EUR, according to the calculations of Ziarul Financiar based on the results announced by companies. Catena registered a turnover of 572 million EUR last year, reaching a total of 620 pharmacies nationwide, up with 40%.”

(taken over from www.zf.ro)

In March, “Capital” magazine is publishing the stories of successful Romanian women. Every day, on the capital.ro website, you can find a story of a successful Romanian woman, extracted from the latest issue of Capital’s Top 50 Successful Women, which appeared at the end of last year. The story of Anca Vlad, founder of Catena, was published on March 3^rd. Below, you have the full article that appeared in “Capital”:

„Anca Vlad is a successful businesswoman who opened the first Romanian business in the area of marketing. The company, currently known as the Fildas-Catena group, has become a market leader in the retail sale of pharmaceuticals, and Anca Vlad is a standard for Romanian businesswomen.

Anca Vlad discovered her passion for economics in high school. At that time, the teacher who was teaching her economics advised her to go to a specialized faculty, which is what she did. She attended the courses of the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies. In 1980, thanks to the results she obtained over the course of the years and at the graduation exam, she has received a repartition to Bucharest, at a company in the lumber industry – the current Silvarom. The professional experience acquired in the seven years she spent working in the export of furniture – a field of activity where she rose to the position of the export activity coordinator -, would help Anca Vlad in the following steps in her subsequent life as an entrepreneur.

“My first mentor, during my career, was Andrei Menhardt, the then manager of Silvarom”, Anca Vlad recalls emotionally. “In my spare time and on holidays, I was working as a translator for international conferences and then as an event organizer for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR). This is how I met some people from many international drug companies, as chemistry was my specialty as a translator”, said Anca Vlad. In 1987, the opportunity to work for the CCIR arose, as national manager for a large foreign company – SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, from England. In May of 1990, she establishes the first marketing consulting firm in Romania, and she hits the jackpot in the entire country with one of the first contracts. If you still remember the toothpaste commercial “Aquafresh in three colors”, then you should know that this slogan belongs to Anca Vlad.

A year later, she lays the foundations for the Fildas business, a firm that she started with only 7 employees. Nowadays, the Fildas-Catena group reached over 5,000 employees and a consolidated turnover of 452 million euros. How did she manage to build a top business? The answer comes directly from Anca Vlad: “The firm’s most important capital is trust. Actually, this is also our motto. It is a company where the relationship between our suppliers, us and our clients is based, first and foremost, on trust. We have a very good reputation both within our country, and abroad.”

Anca Vlad is very involved in the Romanian social and cultural life. In terms of supporting certain projects, Anca Vlad appreciates the effort of the teams Salvati Copiii/Save the Children, Light into Europe, OvidiuRo, Hospice Casa Sperantei/Home of Hope and Fundatia Renasterea/The Rebirth Foundation.

Anca Vlad’s passion, ever since she was a student, was and still is fine art. For 15 years, the Fildas Art Foundation organizes exhibitions of paintings, sculptures, ceramics in Bucharest, in other cities from within the country, abroad, sponsors valuable artists in the development of projects, she organizes annually the International Workshop of Creation from Eforie, she publishes albums and art catalogues and she hosts monthly, at the Senso Gallery, large-scale cultural events.

Prizes

2004 – she won the gold medal for “Business Practice Excellence”, at the fourth International Forum for Business Practice Excellence, organized in Geneva;
2004 and 2005 – she is first in the rankings of successful women, edited by Capital magazine;
2005 – the Fildas company was nominated by Europe Business
Assembly (EBA), Oxford – England, for the prize “The best company in Europe”;
2005 – she receives the title of “Manager of the Year” from the Institute of Directors – London;
2014 – she was a finalist at the EY Entrepreneur of The Year;
2015 – the network of Catena pharmacies is nominated and awarded at the Capital Awards Gala in the category “Strongest companies in the Romanian business world.”

source: www.capital.ro