Resource information
This report argues that in the future
Moldova will need to develop a second engine of growth from
exports of goods and services. We argue that Moldova needs
to resurrect agro-based exports, to raise their value by
exporting to higher value markets, and develop service
exports in order to provide job opportunities for
underemployed tertiary graduates. To be successful in doing
so, the government will need to implement deep fiscal and
structural reforms to break the cycle, while taking
advantage of productivity gains. Much needs fixing, and
Moldova's public sector does not have the capacity to
fix it all. Moldova's leaders need to reach consensus
on a comprehensive and sequenced growth and poverty
reduction strategy. This report sketches out what such a
strategy should contain. The author suggests that geography
and the Government's policy stance fundamentally shape
Moldova's economic growth potential and the path and
priorities that a growth strategy should follow. Government
needs to accelerate reforms so that the country can emerge
from the global crisis-induced recession with faster and
less vulnerable growth. Business as usual will not suffice.
The world's capital markets have become tighter,
foreign investors more demanding, and export markets more
competitive. In April 2009, Moldova's youth indicated
that that they can no longer stand aside and watch Moldova
fall behind, they have called for a politics of aspiration,
and they will demand economic policies consistent with these aspirations.
