Ministry of Economy starts work on new regulatory reform strategy

The Ministry of Economy (ME) plans to develop a new strategic planning policy for the regulatory reform in order to ensure the continuity of actions for the improvement of the business environment and for reducing administrative burden on companies, Info-Prim Neo reports. Lilia Palii, head of the general division for the development of the business environment, said that the strategy would be a long-term one for 2013-2020. It would continue the reform of the state regulatory framework for entrepreneurship activity (dubbed the First Guillotine) adopted in 2007, and the action plans for removing administrative barriers for the business environment for 2010 and 2011 (Second Guillotine and 2+ Guillotine). “Today it’s necessary to consolidate the achieved progress, as the economy develops and changes. The quality of the regulatory framework in each country depends on the authorities’ ability to adjust their planning framework to the requirements of economy, to the needs of companies, of foreign markets, and to the requirements of Moldova’s cooperation framework on the international stage”, stressed the official. The development of the new document will be preceded by an evaluation of the regulatory reform actions. The Ministry of Economy contracted DAI Europe Company for assistance, through the World Bank's Competitiveness Enhancement Project. International expert Ulrich Ernst, DAI Europe project coordinator, presented the first report regarding the gained experience in promoting the regulatory reform in Moldova. He highlighted a decrease in the number of inspections of companies, the optimization of the number of entrepreneurial activities for which a license is required and the adoption of a new law regarding the authorization of construction works. This helped Moldova move up in the World Bank’s Doing Business Top. Ulrich Ernst says that some things aren’t fully carried out. It happens that after initial improvements as a result of the implementation some actions, things change back to the initial situation after a while. In his opinion, the role of ministries and other authorities in the implemented actions isn’t clearly defined. Besides, the impact of regulations on the business environment isn’t assessed exhaustively. Head of the economic development of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergiu Harea stressed it was important to know the opinion of international experts regarding the ongoing regulatory reforms in Moldova. The experience of other countries should be used to make proposals for the improvement of the new strategic planning document. Once put on paper, the new strategy will be launched for public debates.