Prime Minister Iurie Leanca called on the businessmen of Moldova to intensify the discussions with decision makers and to inform the law enforcement bodies about cases of corruption. He made such a call in the opening of the Forum of Businessmen that was held in Chisinau on November 12, under the aegis of the National Employers Confederation of Moldova (CNPM), IPN reports.

The Premier spoke about the Government’s actions for 2013-2014, including the recently adopted roadmap for eliminating the critical constraints on businesses. He urged the businessmen to contribute by submitting proposals and independent reports in the process of assessing the implementation of the roadmap. He underlined that the fright against corruption is one of the Government’s priorities in 2013-2014.

The Confederation’s chairman Leonid Cerescu said that the pressure exerted on the business sector has increased. In the meetings with high-ranking officials, they were told that they are too emotive and do not provide clear arguments to support their assertions. As a result, the Confederation commissioned an independent study and decided to stage a business forum.

The results of the study “Major constraints on the business sector”, which was carried out by the think tank “Expert-Grup”, were presented in the forum. “Expert-Grup” executive director Adrian Lupusor said the Moldovan business sector faces problems because of the political instability and the political involvement in business, owing to the lack of skilled labor force and the poor infrastructure. In a study, the UN placed Moldova on the last-but-one position by the state of infrastructure in the Eurasian area, ahead of Mongolia.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy Valeriu Lazar said that all the mentioned constraints are not something of a novelty. The authorities know them and take measures to remove these problems.

Antonio Graziosi, sub-regional director of the International Labor Organization based in Budapest, said the main problem experienced by the countries of the region is the provision of workplaces for the population. In order to create jobs, the business sector needs a transparent legal framework, while the communication with the governmental institutions must be efficient. The initiative to organize such a forum is laudable.

At the end of the debates, there was presented a draft memorandum of cooperation between the National Employers Confederation and the Government. During a month, it will be supplemented with proposals formulated by businessmen and state institutions and will be then signed.