Foreign Trade as a Main Factor to Support Economic Resilience and Sustainable Development.Case Study for Romania

The analysis of the evolution of foreign trade is important for any economy, for political decision-makers to outline the development strategy in the short, medium and long term. Aspects such as the degree of commercial openness, the relationship with partner countries on intra-EU and Extra-EU dimensions, main exported and imported products, the degree of technology are very important in economic analyses and for defining the resilience and sustainable development potential of the national economy. In this research, we analyzed Romania's international trade relations in the post-accession period, with the main objective of identifying the main features, trends and structural changes of Romanian foreign trade, considering its potential for sustainable development of the national economy in the globalization context, but also the costs and efforts they entail for building resilience. The aim is to emphasize the foreign trade pattern during the last two biggest global crises, the economic crisis in 2008-2009 and the pandemic crisis in 2020-2022, as well as the structural changes and competitiveness of the foreign trade. The results show that foreign trade remains among the most important factors supporting robust recovery after a crisis.