CHISINAU, November 25, 2024 – The World Bank and the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization of Moldova have released a new report detailing essential reforms for boosting the country's economic growth. The Moldova Country Economic Memorandum (CEM), titled "Achieving the European Union’s Standard of Living Within a Generation," highlights significant progress, such as a tenfold increase in GDP per capita since 2002 and a reduction in poverty levels.
Despite these achievements, the report warns of challenges including low productivity in non-agricultural sectors, reliance on declining remittances, and demographic changes like an aging population. It stresses the need for Moldova to adopt a new growth model to ensure sustainable development. Key recommendations include enhancing productivity, increasing public investment, reforming public institutions, and promoting job creation across different sectors.
"Moldova has made significant strides in its economic journey," stated Inguna Dobraja, World Bank Group Country Manager for Moldova. She emphasized the importance of targeted reforms to sustain growth and facilitate EU integration.
Dumitru Alaiba, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic Development and Digitalization, remarked on the importance of private sector involvement in sustainable economic development. He highlighted Moldova's ambitious reform agenda aimed at making business operations more attractive and acknowledged the crucial partnership with external actors like the World Bank Group.
The CEM is supplemented by another report focusing on developing Moldova's manufacturing sector through global value chains in automotive and pharmaceuticals. This analysis aims to modernize Moldova's industrial base using these sectors as examples.
The World Bank underlines that sustained implementation of these reforms is vital for Moldova's socio-economic transformation. EU integration presents an opportunity for aligning with EU socio-economic standards.
Since 1992, over $2.1 billion has been allocated by the World Bank to various operations in Moldova covering regulatory reform, education, health, agriculture among others. As of September 2024, there are 14 active projects improving lives across Moldova. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), part of the World Bank Group, are involved in financial sector projects and risk insurance.