Kalman Mizsei: To attract foreign investments, Moldovan government needs to free the business environment from unlawful interventions of government

– Mr. Mizsei, this year the Action Plan Moldova-EU comes to an end. What can you say about Moldova’s practical implementation of the measures stipulated in the document? What will the legal basis of the relations between Moldova and the EU be in the future, taking into account Moldova’s desire to have clearer perspectives in its European aspirations?

– The Action Plan is a very good document because those reforms that Moldova undertook in the framework of this Agreement are such that contribute to the modernization of the country. As President Voronin emphasized a few times in his interviews, Moldova has made strong progress in its reforms through achieving some of the goals of the Action Plan. He also said that in some other areas, such as judicial reform – independence of the judicial process from political interference -, media freedom, business climate and particularly ability of businesses to work in a lawful environment, is still much to be accomplished. But progress is there and we all hope that this will enable us to put the relationship on a new, more ambitious political basis in the foreseeable future.

– On January 1, 2007, Moldova became the neighbor of the EU. Yet, Moldova’s current relationship with the country in its immediate neighbourhood which represents the EU, i.e. Romania, can not be described as friendly: the scandals involving visa granting, the refusal to sign the Base Political Agreement, reluctance to ratify the Agreement on simplification of visa regime and readmission. How can you comment on that?

– Romania is not only the closest EU-neighbour of Moldova but also one with which it is linked through strong historical and cultural ties. There are many relatives and even more friends living on both sides of the Prut river. Many Moldovans study at Romanian Universities. I am hoping for wisdom in 2008 that enables us to exploit the full potential of this relationship. When there is a dispute in a family, it usually ends by one of the parties offering a gesture in a way that, regardless of who is “right” in the debate, appeals to the other in a way that the relationship returns to an earlier warmth. That is what we need between Moldova and Romania also on the highest political levels and I hope 2008 will bring us this good news.

– Let us touch upon one of the most crucial issues for Moldova – the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict. How do you describe the initiatives dealing with the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict recently put forward by President Voronin? The initiatives included the demilitarization of the region, the removal of some customs and checkpoints on the border, and the common training of peace-keepers.

– I would start not from those concrete parts of his initiative but from the philosophy behind it. Building trust between those who from both banks of the Nistru-river participate in the solution is very important. The confidence building measures that have been launched can help to bring this trust. The Moldovan government has now established working groups that will elaborate concrete proposals. It is vital that Transnistrian representatives participate in the efforts of these working groups. Only decisions, recommendations and projects of such nature have a chance to be implemented. This needs foresight from the Transnistrian politicians that I hope they will have. We will have to work together towards a political solution and it also means working on the more prosaic issues of infrastructure, economic reintegration, people’s unhindered ability to move between the two sides of the country as well as social support.

– Another important event between Moldova and the EU is the conclusion of the Asymmetric Trade Agreement. What opportunities does this agreement offer to Moldovan producers? Does this mean that Moldovan goods have a chance to conquer the European market which is known to be quite exigent?

– Yes, this means exactly that. It is a very good agreement. Now, there are three further tasks to use the full potential of this agreement. First we need good infrastructure, roads and airport capacity, since goods need to be delivered and businessmen need to travel between countries of the European Union and the Republic of Moldova. And those infrastructure investments we need urgently. Second, we need investments, particularly of businesses in the European Union, who can then use this potential. In case of each and every new EU-member state foreign investment was critical to its success. You mentioned already Romania. I remember how important it was when at the end of the 1990s Italian investors started to create – spontaneously, without anybody’s previous design – an investment hub in the Western town of Timisoara. From this nucleus, on the basis of good economic and monetary policies, we arrived to the situation whereby Romania is getting about 12bn euros a year of foreign investments. This process has profoundly helped to restructure the Romanian economy. Without this the big economic successes of Romania of the last 8 years would not have been imaginable. 2 bn euros annually would do the same boost to the Moldovan economy. But for that we need a situation when “chinovniki” do not interfere for their private gains in the life of the companies. Thirdly, one needs to market the new Moldova to the outside investors. Moldova is a small country and it has to tell the world that it now has an investment friendly regulatory environment and an almost unlimited European market access, with still low wages. An investment boom would also help to retain Moldovans as work emigration is, as you rightly noticed, still much too much. Ideally, we would see a flow of investments in the country so that many Moldovans who now undertake mostly low skill jobs abroad will come back for better paid and more high value added activities. We need European investments in Moldova!!!

– The BBC channel has recently launched an advertisement calling for investments into the Moldovan economy. Do you think Moldova is attractive for foreign investments?

– I have tried to answer this question already above. In many ways yes, and what now your government needs to do is to free the business environment from unlawful interventions of government officials of all levels. That is the core of starting to act in your everyday life as an European country. In each member state of the European Union this has been the core component of success. The Moldovan government needs to act on this task coherently.

– Thank you for the interview.

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