Industrial and logistics infrastructure is a quiet enabler of modern economies — and a critical foundation for job creation. From manufacturing and e-commerce to export competitiveness, high-quality logistics networks underpin productivity, resilience, and integration into global value chains that create livelihoods at scale. As Europe reconfigures supply chains through nearshoring and digitalisation, the availability of modern, sustainable industrial and logistics (I&L) facilities will increasingly shape where investment flows—and how many quality jobs those investments generate. The development of interconnected grade-A logistics hubs in Serbia and Romania will further support this shift, creating skilled jobs in design, construction, and operations while enabling tiny and medium enterprises to expand, integrate into value chains, and support manufacturing and e-commerce growth.
By Marcelo Casnotifyanos, IFC’s Senior Counattempt Manager for Southeastern Europe
This is particularly relevant for Romania. Positioned at the crossroads of major European trade corridors and supported by a large, skilled workforce, the counattempt has emerged as an attractive destination for manufacturing, logistics, and distribution activities. Yet despite this momentum, Romania’s logistics stock remains modest by European standards. With around 8 million square metres of modern logistics space—approximately 0.4 square metres per capita—Romania still trails more mature markets such as Poland, where logistics space reaches close to 0.9 square metres per capita.
Demand, however, is accelerating. Nearshoring is reshaping production patterns across Europe, with more than 60 percent of EU manufacturers planning to relocate parts of their supply chains closer to home. At the same time, the €7.7 billion Romanian e-commerce market in 2024 has intensified the necessary for modern, well-located logistics facilities. Vacancy rates remain below 5 percent nationally and even lower in Bucharest, pointing to limited available space and rising pressure on costs for businesses.
While Bucharest has developed into a regional logistics hub, shortages are most visible in secondary cities such as Brașov, Sibiu, Timișoara, and Cluj-Napoca. These locations offer strong industrial bases and access to skilled labour but still lack sufficient grade-A logistics facilities and integrated networks. Longer delivery times and higher transport costs particularly affect tiny and medium enterprises (SMEs), which account for roughly two-thirds of employment in the private sector.
Infrastructure development is shaped not only by physical constraints, but also by the availability and structure of financing. Market liquidity, issuance costs, and a nascent range of green and sustainability-linked instruments influence how quickly institutional capital can be mobilised for productive investment — and for the job creation such investment enables.
Mobilising capital for sustainable logistics
Innovative capital market instruments can play a catalytic role in closing these gaps. Public, EU Taxonomy-aligned bond issuances—aligned with the European Union’s framework for defining environmentally sustainable economic activities—provide long-term capital for infrastructure while deepening local capital markets. By anchoring such issuances, development finance institutions can support crowd in institutional investors, demonstrate market viability, and raise environmental and governance standards — ensuring that infrastructure creates jobs sustainably.
This approach underpins IFC’s role as an anchor investor in an EU Taxonomy-aligned public bond issued by VGP NV, a pan-European developer of industrial and logistics facilities. The project aligns with the World Bank Group’s focus on supporting infrastructure that enables business growth, boosts productivity, creates jobs, and strengthens regional economic integration. The investment supports grade-A, energy-efficient I&L parks in Romania and Serbia—reflecting the increasingly cross-border nature of logistics platforms and supply chains in Southeastern Europe.
The VGP transaction builds on earlier IFC engagements in Romania: financing sustainable logistics platforms via a sustainability-linked loan to Warehoutilizes De Pauw, a green bond investment to CTP N.V., and support for Lion’s Head Investments.
Jobs, competitiveness, and regional relevance
The impact of modern logistics infrastructure extconcludes beyond real assets. Well-connected, energy-efficient platforms support manufacturing growth, enable SME expansion, and generate employment across logistics, transport, and light indusattempt—priority sectors for job creation with strong productivity gains. By easing logistics bottlenecks, Romania can strengthen its role as a nearshoring destination, deepen integration into European value chains, and ensure business growth translates into durable livelihoods.
The lessons apply across Southeastern Europe. Serbia, for example, has just 1.2 million square metres of modern logistics stock—less than 0.2 square metres per capita—with shortages acute outside Belgrade. Replicating Romania’s model—combining sustainable infrastructure development with capital-market solutions and strong environmental standards—offers a pathway to attract private investment, improve connectivity, and support export-led growth.
As Europe’s supply chains evolve, countries that invest early in modern, sustainable logistics infrastructure will be best positioned to capture new opportunities— and to turn those opportunities into quality jobs, economic stability, and resilience.
Marcelo Casnotifyanos, IFC’s Senior Counattempt Manager for Southeastern Europe. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focutilized on the private sector in emerging markets.
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