On February 18th 2015, Moldova Investment and Export Promotion Organisation (MIEPO) has conducted the first edition of ”Diplomatic Economic Club” - an initiative conceived back in 2013 with the purpose of nurturing a more intense dialogue with diplomatic missions and foreign investors. The first edition of the ”Diplomatic Economic Club” 2015 was carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy of Moldova and the Customs Service. It has brought together representatives of diplomatic missions and bilateral commercial chambers, being dedicated to the sharing of first results of DCFTA (Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement) with EU.
The main topic of DEC was the capitalization on the export potential of Moldova through the angle of Moldova-EU Association Agreement. Given the context, MIEPO has presented its new approach to export markets for the priority sectors of national economy, as well as its export promotion strategy for 2015-16.
During the meeting, the Ministry of Economy has opened up on first tangible progress of DCFTA implementation, on both regulatory and commercial sides. Local framework alignment with European regulations, removal of technical barriers to trade, improvement of sanitary and phyto-sanitary systems, simplifying of customs procedures, modernization of energetic sector - these are just some of the actions taken by the Ministry of Economy together with a range of public institutions. These measures are implemented in conformity with the ”National action plan for the implementation of Moldova-EU Association Agreement for 2014-16”. In order to facilitate the access of economic agents to information regarding the DCFTA, the Ministry of Economy, will also launch, on March 4th a specially designed web platform: www.dcfta.md.
The Customs Service has shared progress regarding the launch and promotion of electronic tools accompanying import/export operations. With the release of ecustoms services (http://customs.gov.md/ecustoms/), 43% of overall exports in 2014 have been formalized via electronic tools, this number having a continuously increasing trend. Another important achievement for the further development of export activities, was the set up, in 2014, of ”Authorized Economic Agents” certificates, enabling a priority treatment and a way more simplified procedure throughout export-related transactions. Besides, 2014 was as well marked by the implementation of the ”Unified customs tariff” (TARIM) database, offering more transparency to economic agents, as long as tariff and non-tariff measures applied to import/export are concerned.
