'Invest Moldova' Agency committed to keeping Romania top of the list of bilateral investments in 2025

   Moldova's Investment Agency will make its 2025 strategy keeping Romania on top of the list of its partner countries, director of the 'Invest Moldova' Investment Agency Natalia Bejan declared on Friday."Undoubtedly, for the Government of the Republic of Moldova, Romania is the No. 1 trading partner. Most of our exports go to Romania, imports are also from Romania. We have the largest investments in Romania, we overcame the energy crisis thanks to Romania," said the 'Invest Moldova' Agency's director.She specified that the agency has set itself four directions of action: attracting investments, promoting exports, promoting the country's image and economic diplomacy.'Invest Moldova' is a public institution under the authority of the prime minister, which provides individual assistance to foreign and local investors."We realized that many people, even from the economic sector, do not perceive the Republic of Moldova as a business destination. We help companies find staff in the Republic of Moldova, land to build on, we are operationally involved in all administrative processes. We work mainly with business associations and make efforts to export Republic of Moldova products," said the director of the Investment Agency.According to a presentation by the agency, the Republic of Moldova has been a European Union candidate state since July 2022, and accession negotiations began in June 2024.The Republic of Moldova's GDP was $16.54 billion in 2023. Romania has maintained its status as the No. 1 trading partner of the Republic of Moldova since 2014.The country's exports in 2023 totaled $6.5 billion, with 65.4% thereof bound for the EU (exports to Romania accounted for 35.1%).Imports amounted to a total of $10.21 billion in 2023. In percentages, imports from the European Union accounted for 48.3% (imports from Romania represented 15%).There are around 1,500 Romanian companies in the Republic of Moldova, with about 12,000 employees and 1 billion euros in total turnover.Moldovan companies in Romania employ around 22,000 people and have a total turnover of around three billion euros.