CAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP BE A STRATEGIC OPTION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RURAL SPACE IN ROMANIA?

Entrepreneurship is a key ingredient needed by transition countries to strengthen their growing market economies, being a catalyst for growth and development. For hundreds of years, rural space has been equivalent to land for agriculture, but innovations in industry and technology have changed the notion of rural space and expanded its area of activity. Thus, the rural space cannot be considered any longer as being intended only for agriculture, but can be likened to a hub of opportunities, facilitating the development of popular tourism, small businesses related to tourism activities, activities that can lead to economic development of rural communities. Romania has demonstrated an important potential for rural growth and has seen substantial improvements both in its rural business environment and in its socio-economic environments. This paper contributes to the research on entrepreneurship in rural areas by focusing on innovations that could be implemented in Romania for rural development. Those innovations in rural entrepreneurship are seen as a solution for developing new business models, creating and increasing jobs number, directly linked to the economic performance of regions.