Moldovan goods promotion center to be opened in Moscow

An Exhibitions and Trading Center of Moldova will be set up at pavilion No. 10 of the Moscow Exhibitions Center. The Moldovan Cabinet decided to open talks on signing an intergovernmental agreement to this effect with Russia, Info-Prim Neo reports. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar said Moldova was offered an area of 2,693 square meters for 50 years. The rent is symbolic – 1 Russian ruble a year. About US$20 million is needed to reconstruct the pavilion that was built in 1954. According to Valeriu Lazar, the Exhibitions and Trading Center will be created under a public-private partnership. The private investors that will cover the reconstruction costs will be selected by contest. The pavilion is visited by about 15,000 persons a year. Besides exhibits, the Exhibitions and Trading Center of Moldova will stage cultural events and will house representative offices of companies and restaurants serving national dishes. The similar centers opened by Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and other countries in Moscow turned out to be efficient instruments for promoting the national goods and traditions. The lease on the pavilion will be signed in 12 months of the coming into force of the intergovernmental agreement. It will be valid for 50 years and could be later extended for a similar period. The decision to create permanent exhibitions center of CIS member states in Moscow was taken by the Presidents of these states in 2002.