The small business development policies in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) were the subject of a roundtable meeting staged in Chisinau on September 30. This involved experts from Ukraine, Georgia, etc. In the event, Eduards Filippovs, who heads the Council of the Union of Businessmen of Latvia, spoke about the importance of the small business sector and the experience of his country in the field. The roundtable meeting was organized by the Small Business Association and the Civil Society Forum, IPN reports.

Small Business Association chairman Eugen Roscovanu said the European countries are a model for small business organization for the Republic of Moldova as well as for Ukraine and Georgia.

“In the EU, the ratio is of about 80 enterprises to 1,000 people, while in the Republic of Moldova it is 14:1,000. The government indeed took steps to support this sector, but the effects and implementation are to show their efficiency in time,” stated Roscovanu.

According to him, the EaP states have different criteria for categorizing SMEs, based on the number of employees, turnover, etc. As a result of discussions, proposals will be formulated for standardizing these criteria. It will be thus easier to build a picture as regards the development of this sector. There will also be facilitated experience exchange.

Expert Eduards Filippovs said that for any person the state’s prosperity and economic growth are important. Small business is directly related to these accomplishments. In Latvia, as in Moldova, small businesses account for a bigger share, include more people and have an enormous socioeconomic importance. In this regard, the representatives of this sector must create conditions, protect their interests and develop.

According to the data of the Small Business Association, the small and medium-sized enterprises in Moldova represent over 97% of all the companies.