Romania’s creative industry takes its place among global players. ARICE supported the participation of 10 companies at Cannes Lions to accelerate the export of creative services

Ten independent Romanian companies from the creative sector represented Romania at the 73rd edition of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the most important annual event for the global advertising and communications industry. The participation, organized by the Romanian Advertising and Media Association (RAMA) within the Export Promotion Programme, with the support of the Romanian Agency for Investments and Foreign Trade (ARICE) and creative implementation by Exploratist, marks the fifth consecutive edition in which Romania has had a collective presence under a national pavilion on the Croisette.

Romania, one of Europe’s strongest growth opportunities in advertising Globally, the creative industries are growing faster than the rest of the economy and support one in 20 jobs. The Romanian advertising market is worth almost USD 800 million. At the same time, the digital segment has tripled over the past four years, strengthening Romania’s position among the European markets with the highest growth potential for investment in communications. Global data confirms the same direction. In OECD economies, the cultural and creative industries generate more than 2% of gross value added and account for approximately 7% of all companies. In the decade before the pandemic, the number of companies in the sector increased by 18%, compared with 12% in the rest of the economy, while employment advanced by 13.4%, compared with the overall average of 9.1%. In some countries, the sector supports up to one in 20 jobs, and in major cities, up to one in 10. Approximately 40% of professionals in the field work in other sectors, such as automotive, IT, manufacturing and services, which shows that the multiplier effect of creativity extends far beyond the boundaries of the industry itself. Creative services, one of Romania’s export categories with the highest untapped potential The inclusion of the creative industry in the Export Promotion Programme administered by ARICE represents an institutional recognition with practical relevance: creative services can be exported without logistics costs, generate high added value and deliver higher margins than many traditional export categories. According to foreign trade data, Romanian exports recorded variable dynamics in the first months of 2026, from -4.8% in January to +6.2% in March and +4.3% in April compared with the same period of the previous year. This volatility reflects the dependence of traditional exports on external factors: supply chains, logistics costs and fluctuations in demand across partner markets.

“Creative services are one of Romania’s export categories with the highest untapped potential. Advertising, branding and digital marketing can become some of the country’s most competitive service exports. Exposure at Cannes Lions is a real catalyst; in many cases, the discussions held during the festival turn into collaborations with companies from international markets,”