Last year, exports of the Republic of Moldova stagnated at the level of $ 2750 million, the registered growth being of 0%, observes Veaceslav Ioniță. The IDIS economist wrote in a personal blog post that, after the 2014 crisis, the export growth was ensured by 5 main branches, IPN reports.
In order to provide an increase in exports, Veaceslav Ionita offers two recommendations that, in his opinion, should be urgently implemented by authorities.
First, the economist believes that grain exports should be unblocked and de-monopolized.
"In my opinion, cereal grains and oilseeds’ production have the biggest potential for Moldovan exports’ growth, but the main obstacle is the reduced export capacity. The number one problem for farmers is not agricultural production, but huge export difficulties," the economist writes. Veaceslav Ionita believes that the current logistics and export monopolization have created bottlenecks on the market.
A second necessary step, according to the economist, is the consolidation of Free Economic Zones (ZEL) for bringing foreign investments into the industry.
“In eight years, investments in the industry through the Free Zones amounted to 280 million USD, over 18 thousand jobs were created. Now, ZELs provide 11% of the total Moldovan exports”, the economist writes.
Veaceslav Ionita considers that ZELs must become industrial innovation and development centers and to this end it is necessary to increase their capacity of attracting investments.
Veaceslav Ionita considers it would be a good idea if ZELs merged, leading to an enhanced potential for attracting investments.
