Vasile Tofan
He made these remarks on the ZF Live program.
The Moldovan prime minister noted that “we can try to actively pursue industrialization and say all sorts of nice things” about it, but “I think that, in any case, the future of a country like Moldova lies in sectors with higher added value, because costs will continue to rise. And these are mainly services, including tourism and medical tourism, which require greater involvement of people such as medical assistants and tour guides.”
As for the production of auto parts, “it is largely oriented toward the German market. But we can all see that this market is facing challenges—and therefore we shouldn’t count on our auto parts industry always being a growth sector.”
The prime minister also announced that he does not believe the government can predict which industries will be profitable and thriving in the future, “so as to invest in X, Y, Z, rather than something else. “We believe in creating an ecosystem with far simpler laws and regulations,” which should allow the economy to develop without state intervention.
On Tourism
While more and more Romanians are choosing to vacation in Barcelona, London, or Paris, Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tofan is urging them to consider destinations closer to home. In an interview with the ZF Live program, the official stated that in Chisinau, Romanians will discover something completely different from what they’ve come to expect.
“I invite Romanians to discover our chigiri, our plăcinte, and many other dishes. From a gastronomic standpoint, I even urge Romanians to skip trips to Barcelona, London, or Paris and hop on a plane to Chisinau, even if just for the weekend. With all due respect, I’m a little envious that so many Romanians have visited Berlin and Rome, but so few have been to Chisinau. I think they’d be surprised,” said Vasile Tofan on the ZF Live program.
On Infrastructure
In addition to tourism, the Moldovan prime minister spoke about business opportunities between the two markets and the conditions needed to accelerate mutual investment. According to him, infrastructure development will facilitate the expansion of Romanian companies into the Republic of Moldova and vice versa.
“I believe we will make rapid progress in enabling entrepreneurs to expand from one country to the other. Infrastructure development will help us greatly, but I must admit that we still have a lot of work ahead of us. The turning point will come when more and more entrepreneurs who have already invested in Chisinau, Balti, Cahul, or other localities say: ‘I invested, I succeeded, and I made a good profit. The tax service worked efficiently, government agencies asked me for a minimum of documents, and I received my residence permit and work permit quickly.” “Once this experience spreads throughout the business community, I am convinced that investment will grow,” added Vasile Tofan.
Also in this interview, Tofan said that Moldova has the potential to bring more of its companies to the Romanian capital market and to develop dual listings between the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the stock exchange infrastructure in Chisinau
