Before the 1989 Revolution, he was economic director at the Institute for Research and Technological Engineering, Planning and Production of Non-ferrous and Rare Metals in Bucharest.

[2] Also in 1991, he won a scholarship in macroeconomics in Japan, allowing him to see first-hand how a free-market economy works, including using an ATM for the first time.

He was a member of the Chamber's Foreign Policy Committee, and active in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

[3][4] He also worked on promoting skiing in the Carpathians, Danube cruises, the Romanian wine country, countryside vacations and Bukovina.

[5] In January 2009, Dan suspended himself from the PSD in order to become secretary general and president of the Employer Confederation of Romanian Industry.