French businessmen operating in Romania invited to invest in Moldova

The Moldovan-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFM) signed a cooperation agreement with the Romanian branch of the French Agency for the International Development of Enterprises UBIFRACE, reports Info-Prim Neo. Emmanuel Skoulios, CCIFM president, mentioned during a press conference that this agreement will allow putting to use the database and relations of the UBIFRACE office to inform the companies with French capital from Romania about the possibility to expand their businesses to Moldova. Philippe Garcia, the commercial counsellor of the French Embassy to Romania and the director of UBIFRACE Romania, that the French Agency for the International Development of Enterprises currently has 75 offices in 60 countries, covering 90% of France's external commerce. “Romania has 3,500 companies with French capital, of which 38 are part France's 40 big companies. Many of them want to expand business to Moldova, or reallocate them from other states, taking into account some of the advantages the country has to offer”, said Philippe Garcia. Among the advantages mentioned was the fact that Moldova is very close to the EU countries, both physically in terms of distance, and its way of thinking and approaching problems. Emmanuel Skoulios and Philippe Garcia agreed that an advantage would be the knowledge of French, including by residents of rural zones, where foreign investments are expected almost in all fields. CCIFM deputy president Louis de Sambucy, director general of LAFARGE Moldova, pointed out that it is very important for French investors to have political stability and a favourable business climate in the country they send their capital to. Louis de Sambucy said that he appreciates the central and local public authorities' receptivity to the problems that investors face. These problems can be approached even at the level of Prime Minister, which is much more difficult in other countries. However, according to the businessman, it is necessary to revise some of the bureaucratic procedures. One problem is unfair competition on the market, which emerges as a result of different treatment, in certain cases, towards different businesses. Additionally, says Louis de Sambucy, the system of training qualified staff must be revised, since the problem of personnel deficit persists not only in companies with foreign capital, but in most of Moldovan companies as well.