Independent experts make recommendations for increasing investment attractiveness of regions

The economic polarization is extremely marked in Moldova, half of the GDP being obtained in Chisinau, which concentrates 65.7% of the national companies, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the study “Investment Attractiveness of Moldova’s Regions” made by the independent analytical center Expert-Grup. “As the number of companies is low, the number of unemployed persons is high and the volume of investments is small. As a result, the salaries in the regions are lower. It was established that 100 lei per capita invested results in a bonus of 14 lei to the average salary,” said Valeriu Prohnitski, executive director of Expert-Grup and one of the authors of the study. The average private investment per capita in Moldova last year was 2,707 lei. In the municipality of Chisinau, this figure was 5,585 lei, in the development region Centru – only 1,065 lei, in the region Sud - 1,256 lei, in Nord – 1,412 lei, while in the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia – 1,460 lei. Besides the concentration of companies, the demand from the population is also an important factor in attracting private investments to infrastructure, especially the road one. According to the experts, in order to attract more investments to regions, the Government should develop industrial parks and public-private partnerships, essentially modify the system of financing the local public administration and pay special attention to the local priorities. The local public authorities play an important role in attracting investments to the regions. They must insistently promote the investment necessities and approve well-targeted assistance policies that would stimulate consumption. Deputy Minister of Construction and Regional Development Veaceslav Gututui said the law on regional development adopted in 2006 started to be implemented this year. There were set up three regional development agencies - Nord, Centru and Sud. Foreign investors expressed readiness to finance a number of the over 80 projects selected by a contest of regional projects. Sergiu Tutovan, deputy head of Cahul district, said the local authorities should enjoy greater autonomy. Increased attention should be paid to the development of the Lower Danube Euroregion and other crossborder projects. The study “Investment Attractiveness of Moldova’s Regions” and another three studies with recommendations for the development regions were carried out as part of a project financed by Soros-Moldova.