Premier worried Moldova could not profit from asymmetric trade agreement from very start

Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev is concerned about the fact that the economic entities in Moldova will not have the possibility of making use of the benefits offered by the asymmetric trade agreement with the European Union from the very moment it takes effect. “We worked hard, we convinced the European partners and now I am worried that the businesspeople, especially the ones from the agrifood sector, will not be able to cope when the agreement comes into force,” the Premier said at the forum “Agribusiness in Moldova: Propeller of Economic Growth”. According to the Prime Minister, when Moldova obtained the GSP Plus incentive on January 1, 2006, the national economic entities managed to export to the EU under the given regime only in five months as they did not have the necessary experience and they had to reach the required quality standards. Vasile Tarlev said that the Moldovan farmers have relatively good experience, know what they have to do, but they do not have circulating means. He mentioned that the commercial banks should radically change the methods of lending to the agri-food sector because the high interest rate on short-term credits for farmers makes the implementation of durable projects in the area practically impossible. According to the Premier, over a half of Moldova’s population works in the rural sector as they do not have other developed economic fields and natural resources, only land. Therefore, the authorities are ready to contribute to the development of the agri-food sector so as to manufacture the food products needed for the population and competitive products for export. Yet, Vasile Tarlev said that the share of agriculture in the Gross Domestic Product should be decreased from 15% to 8%. Otherwise, the country’s economic security will be in danger. In the same connection, the Premier said that measures will be taken in the next few years to improve the economic-legislative and juridical framework for supporting the entrepreneurs. Investments will be channeled into the sectors that process agricultural raw materials. The money will go to set up and reequip the technological lines for processing fruit and vegetables, to create Packing Houses that will sort, pack and store agricultural products, to establish or restore the centers for purchasing agricultural products, to form marketing teams that will thoroughly study the markets, to outfit the laboratories with modern equipment and apparatus for production investigations etc.