Moldova’s exports to the EU in 2014-2018 rose by US$ 1.8 billion owing to the Association Agreement signed with the EU in the summer of 2014. The sum is by about 35% higher than in the period before the signing of the document, in 2011-2014. The data were presented in a news conference held to mark five years of the signing of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, IPN reports.

According to the report, the EU in 2014 accounted for 54% of Moldova’s exports, but in 2018 the figure rose to 69%. The agrifood sector was the main beneficiary of the Association Agreement.

Five years after the signing of the DCFTA, exports of primary products rose, but of processed products declined. Among the most exported food products are the wheat, sunflower seeds, wines, corn, sugar and others. The exports of walnuts, sunflower oil, fruit juices and vegetables diminished.

A worrisome tendency is that half of the exports of industrial products are intended for one market, that of Romania. Also, over half of the exports of food products go to Romania, Italy and the UK.

In the opening of the conference, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Urszula Pallasz said that owing to the DCFTA, two in three euros gained by Moldova from exports come from the EU. Currently, many of the Moldovan products have the same quality as the European products. If the DCFTA is fully implemented, all the Moldovan products will meet the EU standards. “We must work to discover the not yet realized potential of this Agreement,” stated Urszula Pallasz.

Attending the conference, Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Vadim Brînzan said the EU is now Moldova’s main commercial partner that attracted almost 70% of Moldova’s exports in 2018. “Foreign trade became more diverse and safe for the Moldovan producers,” he noted.

Secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy Iuliana Drăgălin said the rate of implementing the European standards at economic level now stands at 86.54%.