Promotion of export and food industry. Moldova

The discussion was based on the draft OECD peer review note. It provides an assessment of Moldovan food producers’ integration into global value chains based on the value chain links between food producers and large retail enterprises operating in Moldova and their direct access to foreign markets.

Alexander Surdei, Professor, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Poland to the OECD and Chair of the OECD Competitiveness Roundtable in Eurasia, noted that the food industry plays a vital role in many countries of Eurasia.

More effective integration of food producers into global value chains through linkages between export or supply chains and food retailers will enable local food producers to scale up production. This in turn helps increasing the sector's contribution to the system’s resilience and growth to enhance food security.

In the course of his speech, Mathieu Buske, Head of the Department for Eastern European Studies at the OECD, presented an analytical overview of supply chain relationships of Moldovan food industry.

The review consisted of three parts. The first part examined barriers to cooperation between food producers and retailers. In the second are ways to increase Moldovan food producers’ competitiveness and their export readiness. The third part suggested ways to further support food producers in the context of the Covid-19 crisis.

It is worth noting that experts from Kazakhstan, Georgia and Ireland were invited to the webinar. Gulnar Bisultanovna, head of the food processing department of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, shared her experience on existing measures of state support in the field of increasing the competitiveness of Kazakhstani food producers.

‘In turn, the Kazakhstan’s Government provides support to business entities in the domestic market through th.organization of fairs, the sale of goods without intermediaries in communal markets, soft loan programs with a final rate of 6% for fixed and current assets replenishment for business, reimbursement of the costs portion invested in construction and modernization of agricultural sector’s priority areas, goods purchase forward from agricultural producers’, said Speaker Bisultanovna.

Discussed and noted 2 main points:
1. The food industry sector can serve as a cornerstone for strengthening the sustainability of the Moldovan economy by stimulating supply chain links between food producers and large food retailers operating in Moldova;
2. The main barriers hindering the qualitative development of the food industry sector of Moldova: weak activity in the field of innovation and investment by the state, need for more careful regulation in the field of food quality standards, lack of qualified personnel and entrepreneurial qualities in the food industry sector.