Horațiu Felix ArionDirector General

Prof. Dr. Felix Arion is the General Director of AgroTransilvania and the Director of the Economic Sciences Department of USAMV Cluj-Napoca. Currently, he is the president of the Romanian Cluster Network in the agri-food field. Since 2018 he has been an expert for the European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis, and in 2020 he was nominated by the European Commission, DG JRC, as an expert to assist the Review of Romania’s Industrial Transition for the agri-food sector. The main activities and areas of expertise are related to business administration in rural areas and agricultural policy, the latest national and international initiatives being related to areas such as: innovation in agriculture, smart agriculture and agro-hubs.

Experiență
  • 2016 – present: CEO, Agro-Food-Ind Napoca Cluster Association;
  • 2013 – present: General Manager, Agro-Food-Ind Napoca Cluster Association;
  • 1998 – present: University Professor, Director of the Economic Sciences Department, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca;
  • 2018 – 2019: Strategical Planning Responsible, Agro-Food-Ind Napoca Cluster Association.
  • Coordinator of 5 study programs (3 for undergraduate level and 2 for master level, including an ERASMUS MUNDUS master program – Master Food Identity);
  • Author or co-author of 9 scientific books and over 60 scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals;
  • Project manager or project coordinator for more than 21 national and international research, development and consulting projects;
  • Member of the Monitoring Committee of the National Rural Development Program (PNDR) 2014-2020;
  • Member of the Presidential Committee of Romania for Public Policies for the Development of Agriculture in Romania;
  • Member of the thematic working groups “GLT 4 – Value chain of agri-food products, quality, promotion, marketing and communication”, of the Advisory Committee on Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries of the Rural Development Policy 2014 – 2020;
  • Member of the Romanian Association of Economic Managers and Engineers (AMIER);
  • Expert advisor of various national research and institutional projects / programs in the field of Agricultural Economics, Rural Development, Policies, Economics (CEEX since 2005, CNCSIS since 2004, AGRAL since 2004);
  • Expert advisor of ARACIS (National Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Romania) – since 2008;
  • Included in the database of evaluators of the expert advisor for the actions of Marie Skłodowska-Curie “Individual Fellowships” (IF) H2020-MSCA-IF-2014, as part of the European Framework Program for Research Horizon 2020 – from 2014;
  • Expert assessor and reporter of the Czech-Norwegian Research Program CZ09, Financial Mechanism 2009-2014 – since 2014.
Educație
  • 1998 – 2004: PhD: “Management and Marketing in Agriculture”, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj- Napoca;
  • 1998 – 1998: Master’s Degree: “Agribusiness”, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca;
  • 1992 – 1997: Bachelor’s Degree: Economic Sciences, “Economics of agricultural and forestry production”, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Babes-Bolyai.
Alte specializări și calificări:
  • 2018 – Training in Public Policies in the Field of Regional and National Economic Competitiveness;
  • 2015 – Advanced training at Farmers Academy (South Korea);
  • 2015 – Horizon 2020 Development Project (Austria);
  • 2015 – Cluster of Excellence in Management, Barcelona;
  • 2014 – Professional certificate of “From marketing strategy to results: steps and tools for marketing Implementation of Plans”, from the Academy of Management and Business Marketing;
  • 2010 – Training Certificate in the field of “Easy to use Sales and Sales Techniques. An easy and practical approach to sales, sales techniques, sales process and negotiation techniques”, by Gabriel A. Balazs, USA;
  • 2010 – Professional Certificate of “Project Manager”, Transylvania Business Center;
  • 2007 – Training certificate in the field of “Project Management”, by Enrico Tomasetti, Urbino University, (Italy);
  • 2004 – Certificate of training in the field of Young Scientist Fellowship Norman E. Borlaug Program for Romania at the University of Iowa, USA;
  • 2003 – Certificate of Training in the field of “Business World” (National Agency for Partnership with Economic and Social Environment) and Junior Achievement Romania, Predeal, Romania;
  • 2002 – Training certificate in the field of Agro-Environmental Summer School at Szent Istvan University, Godollo, Hungary within the CEEPUS program;
  • 2001 – Certificate of Training in the field of “Communications. Skills for effective communication based on the effective use of personal tools such as voice, breathing, position, speech and wording by R. Klaassen, STOAS Teacher Training Institute for Agriculture (Netherlands);
  • 2000 – Certificate of training in the field of sustainable management of nutrients in agriculture, by Prof. A. Hekstra, director of the Foundation for Sustainable Management of Nutrients in Agriculture (Netherlands).

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