Investors put Bulgaria and Romania in the same basket and its better for the two countries to join efforts in order to create a common index, or a common instrument, to facilitate the access of investors to Romania and Bulgaria, Valentin Ionescu, general manager of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, said at the forum "The Sound of Money 2011", organized by Profit.bg.

A common platform in Southeast Europe would also be convenient, according to Ionescu. Bucharest Stock Exchange's plans for 2010 and 2011 include collaborations with the countries in the region.

Romania and Bulgaria have potential and they should not wait for the largest exchanges like London, Vienna or maybe Warsaw to come and help them, because they can help themselves and develop the market really aggressively, according to Ionescu, who has been really aggressive and proactive in putting the potential of Romania in the market.

Similarly to the Bulgarian Stock Exchange the Bucharest Stock Exchange has difficulties in convincing the state to list state companies on the exchange in order to have transparent privatization.

"We are lucky now in Romania though, because in order to receive help from the IMF, privatization has to be conducted through the stock exchange. I hope that we will soon see some of the largest state-owned companies listed on the exchange", Ionescu added.