Better trade regime fails to yield export boost: Expert-Grup

The consecutive improvement of the trade commerce the EU granted Moldova has not had a special impact on the Moldovan exports, neither on their diversification. The conclusion is drawn by the authors of a study called “The Development of the Moldovan Exports to the EU. The Role of Trade Regimes,” presented on Thursday by the Expert- Grup think tank, with the financial support of the Soros Foundation-Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports. The research considers the development of the Moldovan foreign trade from 1995 through 2007. Since 1997, the EU has granted Moldova facilities called the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), and since 2006, it has considerably extended the list of products benefiting from facilities (GSP- plus). The independent economists say the Moldovan commerce has developed robustly during this period, but very uneven, as the imports prevail over exports. The imports surged 4.4 times, while the exports -- by only 80%. The EU has become Moldova's main trade partner. In 2007, the EU countries took 50.6% of the Moldovan export and accounted for 45.6% of the imports. “The research data entail that the facilitating commercial regimes granted by the EU cannot represent a panacea. The Autonomous Trade Preferences granted to Moldova earlier this year create prerequisites for a qualitative growth of the exports to the EU market. But it's not enough. The Government has to remove the technical barriers in the development of exports, by enhancing the capacity of the Moldovan producers to diversify their offers, and to boost the quality of their products,” Valeriu Prohnitchi, the executive manager of Expert –Grup says. Prohnitchi adds the Government should insist on a deeper trade regime in the future agreement with the EU to insure Moldova's economic integration with tools exceeding the trade area and stepping up the absorption of the EU's acquis.