Moldova and Turkey have signed a Free Trade Agreement that enables to exchange goods without paying customs duties. In the signing ceremony in Chisinau, Minister of Economy Andrian Candu and his Turkish counterpart Nihat Zeybekci said that even if Turkey protects its market very cautiously, it made many exceptions in relation to Moldova, IPN reports.

When the accord takes effect, after it is ratified by both of the sides, all the import duties and any tax with equivalent effect put on industrial goods will be annulled, except for a series of Turkish goods such as shoes, furniture and plastic items for which Moldova asked for a transition period of three to seven years. Andrian Candu said that Moldova negotiated transition periods for sensitive products, allowing thus the national economic entities to increase their competitiveness.

The minister stated that this accord will contribute to intensifying the commercial relations between the two states, Turkey being now the third partner of Moldova by the volume of trade, after the CIS and EU. “Turkey is an important commercial partner and the signing of this accord after three years of negotiations can also lead to increased Moldovan investments in Turkey. The accord covers over 9,000 names of goods ad products,” said Andrian Candu.

He added that the accord allows importing raw material from Turkey, processing it in Moldova and exporting it then to countries with which Moldova has free trade. This way, both of the states enjoy benefits and the number of jobs can be thus raised in Moldova.

The agreement provides that the sides will grant mutual concessions for agricultural products. There were negotiated tariff quotas for products of an increased interest, including for particular periods of the year (off-season), within which the customs duty will be eliminated based on the most favored nation clause regime.

For his part, Nihat Zeybekci said that outside the EU, with which Turkey created a customs union, the country signed 20 free trade agreements. Most of all, Turkey opened its market to Moldova. The country aims to increase the bilateral trade to US$1 billion.

The official noted that Turkey’s economy in the past 10 years grew significantly, becoming the 17th in the world and the fifth in Europe.