Business Barometer: Moldovan entrepreneurs confronted many challenges in 2022
Moldovan entrepreneurs faced various challenges in 2022, both because of the pandemic and the war unleashed by Russia in Ukraine. Companies in industry, agriculture and services had a harder time. By contrast, a better situation was seen in trade and construction. These findings are contained in the Business Barometer, conducted by the sociological research company "Date Inteligente" and released today by the Association of Romanian Investors in Moldova.
The study highlights the increase in prices, which has affected the activity of companies on both sides of the Dniester. At the same time, entrepreneurs and investors face a lack of qualified employees and a lack of a market for selling goods. For these reasons, both large and small companies, especially those in Chisinau, encounter difficulties. However, investment has increased, shows the barometer.
"If we talk about the less affected branches, they are the construction branches. Services, industry and agriculture in general are the hardest hit. In general, in more companies the level of investment has increased," says the director of the company "Intelligent Data".
In turn, the French ambassador to Moldova says that several French companies plan to invest in our country soon.
"It is a very useful and important tool for measuring the investment climate in Moldova. It enables us to measure business developments, but also the perception of business people towards the economic situation in the country," says Ambassador Paul Graham.
Representatives of Romanian investors also see the barometer as a useful tool for the business environment.
"It is obvious that we are going through a period in which the business environment and the whole society is exposed to vulnerabilities. It will be a three-stage process. This is just the first stage - the launch of the project. More than three thousand companies from the Republic of Moldova are going to be approached and it is meant to present the place we are in now," says Dan Nuțiu, President of the Romanian Investors Association.
"This is a collective effort to make it as easy as possible to expand business in the Republic of Moldova and to provide a particularly useful tool for potential investors coming here to the Republic of Moldova. I hope it will be a successful project, which will continue as long as possible and a project in which as many companies as possible will be involved", said Cristian-Leon Țurcanu, Romania's ambassador in Chisinau.
The project is being carried out by the Association of Romanian Investors in the Republic of Moldova and the France-Moldova Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in partnership with the Tiraspol Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with the support of UNDP and the EU. The survey, in which more than 400 entrepreneurs participated, was conducted between 7 and 11 December 2022. The margin of error is plus-minus 4.4 percent.
