The business community’s perception of the Moldovan economy is pessimistic. The small companies operating in agriculture are slightly more optimistic. Those working in the building sector are more pessimistic. The entrepreneurs said they are affected by the rise in prices, including in production costs. They also invoked the shortage of skilled workers and the difficulties related to the war in Ukraine, difficulties in selling goods and in identifying new clients, the high taxes and imperfect legislation. There are entrepreneurs who complain about corruption, shows the Business Barometer of the Republic of Moldova that was produced by the sociological research company “Date Inteligente” and was presented by the Association of Romanian Investors in the Republic of Moldova.
In a news conference hosted by IPN, Romania’s Ambassador to Moldova Cristian-Leon Țurcanu said the Business Barometer is an instrument to which the Association of Romanian Investors, the France-Moldova Chamber of Commerce and Industry contributed with funding from the European Union and with support from UNDP. “This is a collective effort aimed at facilitating to the full the extension of business in the Republic of Moldova and at offering a particularly useful tool to potential investors that come here, to the Republic of Moldova. The value added of this product resides in the fact that it was created by companies for companies. From my viewpoint, this is a very good and useful thing as who else knows best the investment climate in the Republic of Moldova, the economic realities, the problems and challenges if not the businesses that already operate here. I want this to be a successful project that would continue as long as possible and would involve as many companies as possible,” stated Cristian-Leon Țurcanu.
The Ambassador of France in the Republic of Moldova Paul Graham said the barometer is an important and useful instrument for measuring the investment climate in Moldova. It also allows measuring the developments in the business sector and the businesspeople’s perception of the economic situation in Moldova. “We remain optimistic and confident that an increasing number of companies in the immediate period will show interest and will consider investing in the Republic of Moldova,” noted Paul Graham.
The chairman of the France-Moldova Chamber of Commerce and Industry Emmanuel Skoulios said that this is a new instrument that presents the entrepreneurs’ perception of the economic situation in the country and the evolution of the business climate. “It is an additional instrument and aid for the authorities for seeing the businesspeople’s perception of the business climate, the spirits of these at a particular moment in time. We now speak about the results of research carried out in November-December 2022. We must place the results of this barometer namely in the period to which it refers. The poll should be carried out on a regular basis so as to see the evolution of the businesspeople’s perception and of the business climate,” stated Emmanuel Skoulios.
Executive president of the Association of Romanian Investors Dan Nuțiu said that this barometer plays the role of supporting the business community. The business community represents a factor of stability in any economy and makes an extremely important contribution by creating jobs, by paying taxes and duties to the state and by permanently communicating with the public authorities. ”It is evident that we are going through a period when the business community and the whole society are exposed to risks. But it is extremely important to realize, and the business community probably knows best, that where there are risks, there are also opportunities. It is important to remain focused on what we need to do, to unite and bring value added for society, for our mates from the business community. This barometer has such a goal – to offer a point from which to start the assessment,” stated Dan Nuțiu.
Mihai Bologan, executive director of “Date Inteligente”, said the barometer was compiled on the basis of a poll that covered 456 companies. The research generally reveals a slightly negative sentiment of companies. “If we speak about sectors, the companies operating in trade and the building sector are less affected. The companies operating in the service sector and agriculture are affected the most in general. By location, the companies from Chisinau seem to be the most affected ones, probably because most of the service companies are concentrated here,” explained Mihai Bologan.
According to the barometer, in general, the investment level at many companies decreased. “In particular, there were affected the large and micro companies. The medium-sized companies were somehow less affected by the evolution of investments. As regards the economic activity, the companies from the building sector were affected less. The services and agriculture were affected considerably,” stated the company’s director. He noted that the perception of Moldova’s economy is generally more pessimistic.
“As regards the difficulties experienced by the companies, 78% said they are affected by the rise in prices, including in production costs. 45% mentioned the absence of skilled workers, 44% - difficulties related to the war in Ukraine, including logistics and trade, 35% - difficulties in selling goods and in identifying new clients. 29% said they were affected by the high taxes. 16% mentioned the imperfect legislation in the field. There were also noted the difficult access to financing, difficulties generated by the activity of state institutions. Only 7.8% mentioned corruption and only 0.5% of the companies said they do not face any problem,” said Mihai Bologan.
Note: IPN News Agency gives the right of reply to persons who consider they were touched by the news items produced based on statements of the organizers of the given news conference, including by facilitating the organization of another news conference in similar conditions.
