Non-competitiveness of products and excessive bureaucratization of normative framework contribute to a stagnant foreign trade

Moldova’s foreign trade will continue to stagnate because the exported goods are not competitive on the foreign markets. The Moldovan products are far from meeting the international quality standards, consider experts of the Institute for Development and Social Initiative (IDIS) “Viitorul”, who presented a comparative study on foreign trade on July 24, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The vulnerability of Moldova’s foreign trade is proven by the fact that the exports consist mainly of agrifood products, which are simultaneously imported from other states into Moldova. This tendency shows that the national agricultural producers lose their positions on the agrifood market in Moldova,” program director at IDIS “Viitorul” Viorel Chivriga explained. Moldova is turning into a net importer of agrifood products, the expert stressed. Viorel Chivriga also said that the fact that Moldova produces goods that are not in demand on other markets is also an impediment to the development of foreign trade. Despite the steps designed to simplify the export procedures, Moldova still witnesses excessive bureaucracy, Viorel Chivriga considers. IDIS expert Viorel Furdui said that the large number, the complexity and dispersed character of the normative regulations hinder the adequate informing of the exporters about the procedures, particularities and preferences in the area and contribute to the lack of appropriate correlation between different departmental normative documents. Viorel Furdui says that there is certain incertitude as regards the capacities of the governmental institutions to implement the adopted documents in due time. “The lack of governmental reports on the results of implementing the previous strategies are a proof that the policies in the agri-food sector and in the areas of investment attraction and export promotion are unsuccessful,” Viorel Furdui stressed. In the same connection, the IDIS experts said that the foreign trade is stagnant also because the economic entities and public functionaries do not recognize the international agreements that Moldova signed. According to statistics, Moldova’s foreign trade in 2007 rose 34.4% on 2006, to 5.031,5 billion USD. Exports increased by 28%, while imports by 37%. The discrepancy in the evolution of exports and imports led to the accumulation of a trade deficit of 2.348,07 billion USD at yearned 2007. It was by 1.641,56 billion USD higher on 2006. As experts of IDIS “Viitorul” forecast, the trade balance at the end of 2008 will pass 3 billion USD.