“The Republic of Moldova made progress during this first year of the signing of the Association Agreement and the Free Trade Agreement. We saw stability in the relations with the Republic of Moldova, even if this was influenced by a series of internal factors such as the banking crisis, which can influence trade only negatively,” said Luc Devigne, unit head at the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission. The official voiced hope that the destabilizing factors will be eliminated, IPN reports.
In the international conference “Let’s benefit more from the DCFTA”, Luc Devigne stated that the EU is impressed by the dedication by which Moldova and Georgia implement the Free Trade Agreement. “We will continue to support Moldova in the process of implementing and benefitting from the Association Agreement and its component the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement,” he stated.
Deputy Minister of Economy Octavian Calmac said Moldova’s exports to the EU represent 62%, an increase of almost 10% on the previous years. According to him, the DCFTA had a positive impact on Moldova’s exports during the first year of its coming into force. Trade between the EU and Moldova is stable. “The exports and imports didn’t decrease in value, while the quantity of goods exported to the EU grew by 30%,” he stated.
“We made considerable progress in adjusting the legislation on energy, quality infrastructure, market surveillance, and consumer protection. We are yet behind schedule in taking particular measures due to the political situation in Moldova. We are convinced that we will catch up and will fulfill the commitments made for 2014-2015 by this yearend.”
The official also said the concerns stated by the private sector and other pessimistic players didn’t come true as there is no avalanche of EU products that would affect the domestic market and would create disloyal competition to our products. “The investment components prevail in the structure of imports and this makes us confident that in the medium and long term, Moldova will witness investments-based, not consumption-based growth,” stated Octavian Calmac.
