Five advantages for foreign investors in Moldova

The Moldovan Export Promotion and Investment Attraction Organization (MIEPO) enumerated five advantages that could make the potential foreign investors expand their businesses in Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the MIEPO director Andrei Timus. According to Timus, these advantages are: the favorable fiscal regime owing partly to the zero tax on reinvested profit; the possibility to work in free trade zones (zero income tax, non-use of VAT and excise duties on the goods made in these zones and exported); labor force that is cheaper than in other countries of the region – 1.5 euros per hour as against about 3 euros per hour in Ukraine and 4 euros per hour in Romania and Bulgaria; Moldova benefits from Autonomous Trade Preferences with the EU and can export most of the goods duty-free; Moldova signed free trade agreements with 42 countries, is a member of the Wold Trade Organization, participates in the Central European Free Trade Agreement and other European and international economic organizations. Andrei Timus said that the foreign direct investment in Moldova at the start of this year totaled US$2.6 million. The investments come from 85 countries. About 76% of the total investments were made by EU member states. Among the major investors in Moldova are: the Netherlands (22%), Cyprus (11.4%), Italy (11.2%), Russia (7%), Spain (5.7%), Germany (5.6%), the U.S. (4.7%), the UK (4.4%), France (3.7%), Romania (3.3%). The most attractive areas for investments are the retail and wholesale trade (26%), processing industry (22%), energy sector, gas industry, water and sewerage services (15%), service sector (13%), financial services (13%), real estate (10%) , and others. Approximately 70% of the total volume of investments were made in foreign capital companies operating in Moldova.