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Boosting sales and investment for Moldovan companies through increased productivity, improved product quality and expanded market linkages to European and other high-value markets
The Moldova Competitiveness Project (MCP), financed by USAID and the Government of Sweden, promotes a strong, diverse, and export-oriented economy by improving competitiveness and efficiency in key Moldovan industries, thereby creating jobs, reducing emigration, and improving the economic well-being of all Moldovans.
INCREASE SALES, INVESTMENTS AND EXPORTS IN TARGETED INDUSTRIES
In order to grow and expand targeted competitive industries, MCP has three main objectives:
Improve productivity and quality of products and services of Moldovan businesses.
MCP mobilizes interventions throughout the value chain for increased productivity, improved product quality, enhanced workforce skills and expanded use of innovations in target industries. The ultimate goal is to achieve higher quality of products and services that are able to compete domestically and abroad, improve the availability and skill level of the workforce to align with industry needs, and drive innovation within businesses and across the industry. MCP supports development of high-quality workforce, including working with the private sector to help increase and retain adequate skilled workers through industry-specific trainings, as well as with the Government and academia to help address the need for up-to-date skills at various educational levels and within the industry. MCP also assists in the development of industry excellence centers, such as ZIPhouse, a fashion design center and Makers Space and Creative Hub, as sustainable and systemic solutions for improving skills and innovation.
Increase sales on domestic market and exports on regional and global markets.
Consolidating domestic markets and building exports is critical for the prosperity of Moldova. MCP facilitates expansion to regional and global markets, as well as the development of domestic trade, where there is clear growth potential. MCP approaches trade enhancement in a comprehensive and sustainable manner, ensuring that short-term market opportunities are exploited, and are in line with both short and long-term strategic market development goals. MCP interventions support the countries’ and specific industry strategies, including export and marketing plans, as well as firm level objectives like export readiness and market knowledge.
Improve the enabling environment, regulatory framework and local institution’s capacity for key sectors.
MCP assists improvement of laws, regulations and policies to make them conducive for industry competitiveness and growth. MCP also enhances the capacity of business associations, increasing their role in industry development, improving their advocacy skills and strengthening their dialogue with the government to create a sustainable business environment. Transformative public-private partnerships are organized to promote sustainable and scalable local solutions for industry growth. With a larger goal for increased private sector engagement, MCP identifies opportunities to catalyze additional private and public investment to promote innovative ideas and new technologies, collaborate on product marketing and promotion, assist producers to achieve international quality standards, and conduct specific related research, workshops, training events and public awareness initiatives to achieve greater impact, sustainability and growth within the targeted value chains and companies.
KEY SECTORS DRIVING THE MOLDOVAN ECONOMY
MCP assists targeted Moldovan industries that have key economic and social significance, are export oriented, and collectively account for 13% of GDP and 40% of exports. These sectors include:
- wine production clustered with tourism
- light industry (clustered with apparel, footwear and fashion accessories manufacturing)
- information and communications technology (ICT) clustered with creative services and precision engineering industries
ACOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE
From October 2015 to September 2016, MCP has assisted more than 250 SMEs to adopt new technologies, strengthen targeted marketing, and make critical investments in equipment and human resources. SMEs receiving MCP assistance registered USD $28 million growth in sales, including USD $20.8 million in exports to regional and global markets. The USD $10 million in new investments generated by MCP-assisted firms were primarily used for upgrades of production facilities, purchasing new equipment, and implementing quality improvements. To enable Moldova to capitalize on Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) benefits, MCP focused on product quality improvement as the key to preparing Moldova’s private sector to compete in European Union (EU) and other high-value markets. MCP’s workforce development initiatives have benefitted 3,400 Moldovans, and focused largely on cultivating critical job skills that are aligned with industry needs.
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