During the pandemic crisis, the political factor and the vulnerability of ministries became an evident obstacle to working out important strategies based on a constructive dialogue between the Government and businesses, executive director of the European Business Association Mariana Rufa said in IPN’s public debate “Crisis in Moldova as an indicator of missed opportunities and an occasion for changes”.
”Currently, many aspects in the Republic of Moldova are politicized. The state institutions are at the beck and call of the ruling party and what is discussed at party meetings often becomes an axiom for ministries. Consequently, if the businesses come with a proposal to the Government without enjoying political support, this proposal will not have chances of being accepted,” said the economist.
She gave as example the amendments proposed to the Labor Code by the European Business Association of Moldova for overcoming the pandemic. “We suggest liberalizing the labor market. Yes, this is an unpopular measure that offers more rights to the employer, but it can significantly cut unemployment. Nevertheless, we haven’t yet found understanding on the part of the authorities in this regard,” stated Mariana Rufa.
According to her, if the initiative does not satisfy the interests of the rulers, this is delayed, even if it comes from important foreign partners. “The World Bank for a long time has asked for the real implementation of digitization in Moldova. If there was political will, all the public services in Moldova would become electronic,” stated the economist.
She noted that this also refers to the ensuring of the rule of law. “You cannot imagine how many letters we sent to the Ministry of Justice, but all in vain. It happened because the state institutions cannot influence the political component of the power,” said Mariana Rufa.
Former deputy prime minister Alexandru Muravski mentioned another cause for the inefficiency of the anti-crisis measures taken by the Government. “The successful management of crises depends on the correct choice of priorities. Not everyone can be helped and a choice should be thus made,” he stated.
“Whole sectors of the economy were blocked; a lot of people returned from abroad and the best solution in this situation is to remove all the bureaucratic obstacles and to maximally simplify the process of founding enterprises, up to the submission of the registration application through email, while the newly formed entities should be exempted from taxes. This way we will offer the population the chance of self-employment and self-financing. Surely, there is a risk, but this will not lead to the demolition of the country,” said Alexandru Muravski.
According to the ex-deputy prime minister, such an approach can work only if the state compensates for the fiscal risks at the expense of large companies and import businesses, if the real fight against smuggling starts, measures are taken to improve the quality of the national products and special programs are implemented to subsidize particular areas with prospects, such as organic farming.
The public debate entitled “Crisis in Moldova as an indicator of missed opportunities and an occasion for changes” was held as part of the project “Overcoming European integration stereotypes through communication” that is implemented by IPN News Agency with support from the Hanns Seidel Foundation.