The bilateral relations between Moldova and Italy developed harmoniously in time, both at commercial and at political levels. The Moldovans are appreciated by the Italian people. The Moldovan authorities plan to reopen a number of honorific consulates and to open news ones by this yearned, Moldova’s Ambassador to Italy Stela Stangaci said in the program “Place for dialogue” on Radio Moldova station, IPN reports.
“The Moldovan-Italian relations developed agreeably. When relations were established with Italy, everything was started from zero. There were no embassies and no agreements. In the period, there were opened Moldova’s Embassy in Rome and two consulates, in Milan and Padova. Italy has an embassy in Chisinau. Effort is now made to strengthen the honorific consulates,” said the diplomat.
According to Stela Stangaci, a number of honorific consulates will be reopened and news ones will be opened in Florence, Verona, Torino, Treviso and other towns by the end of this year. There are now two chambers of trade, a Moldova-Italian one and an Italian-Moldovan one. These make a valuable contribution to developing the commercial-economic relations between the two states.
“Italy is an important supporter of Moldova’s European course and was also an important supporter when a decision was to be taken as to the visa free regime with the EU for Moldova. Now the Republic of Moldova and Italy have 35 bilateral agreements. A good legal basis was laid and this facilitates the political relations between the two states,” said the ambassador.
She also said that Italy is an important economic partner of Moldova, which ranks third by exports and imports. “Last year witnessed a slight decline in the bilateral trade as the unstable situation in the country scared a little the Italians. But the situation has improved this year. Italy ranks second by the volume of investments and by the number of mixed enterprises with foreign capital in Moldova,” stated Stela Stângaci.
The diplomat noted that there are over 70 associations of Moldovans in Italy. These become involved in the social life, develop volunteering and provide information services and this helps the Moldovan diaspora in Italy to grow qualitatively. The unemployment rate among the Moldovan community in Italy is the lowest because the Italians appreciate the Moldovan workers. The mentality of the Moldovans in Italy changed and this is a positive sign.
