There is a correlation between the 3.4% decline in the industrial production and the 4.6% reduction in long-term investments in fixed capital, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar said when asked to comment on the statistics concerning investments attracted to the national economy in the first quarter of this year. “The output cannot grow if investments are not made,” the minister stated, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. According to Lazar, there are objective and less objective causes for these decreases, including a rather cold winter, the constraints on the import of equipment from different areas and on the imported volumes. “Investments are made when the owners of companies see that the given businesses have prospects. If there are restrictions on the export, the investments come with delay because the people do not invest in businesses that do not generate profit. This and the recession in some of the European countries led to the diminution of investments,” he explained. Valeriu Lazar said the indicators for March-April show an improvement in the situation. “Russia, which is Moldova’s main trade partner, ended the first quarter of the year with an increase of 4.9%. The news in the EU was better in April. That’s why I’m confident that the situation as regards the industrial development and the attraction of investments will improve the next quarters. But we must know how to manage this foreign conjuncture and continue to enhance the investment climate, eliminate the barriers to trade and more actively promote our products on the Western and Eastern markets,” said the minister.