Cormack Consultancy Group, the Edinburgh-based trade facilitation company, has expanded into Romania, its third international launch this year after Russia and India.

CCG – which last week took the prize for service innovation at the SCDI International awards – is extending its new model of joint ventures with established entrepreneurs in rising overseas markets. The approach builds on a decade of promoting links between the UK and the Baltic states – the company claims to have helped more than 400 firms from the UK and elsewhere work successfully since 2001.

CCG founder Charles Cormack said: "We believe Romania is the EU market with the most potential - As well as being a potential export market, it is also an extremely attractive outsourcing market, both for manufacturing and IT development."

The Bucharest office will be run by Tavi Bota, an UK-educated entrepreneur who previously worked in Scotland for mobile technology tycoon, Richard Emanuel.

Bota, 39, said: "There are real opportunities in Romania for SMEs, and we can help Romanian companies access foreign markets."

Admitted to the EU in 2007, the mineral-rich and heavily industrialised former communist country of 21 million people experienced a brief property-led boom soon afterwards, but by being "late to the party" escaped the worst of effects of the Europe-wide crash.

Romania projects itself as the most cosmopolitan and investor-friendly of the former communist eastern European countries, and is also a hub of energy investment based on strong oil and gas and renewables sectors.

The language skills of its population also makes it a leading centre for call centres and service businesses, in education, IT, financial services and e-commerce.