Thanks to participation in various exhibitions supported by Moldova Fruct Association and Invest Moldova Agency, Moldovan companies have established almost 200 new contacts and received $65 million from additional exports.
This was mentioned during the general meeting of Moldova Fruct, the Association of Fruit Producers and Exporters of Moldova, held in Chisinau, where the results of the work were summarized, current challenges were discussed, further priorities were outlined and elections of the Association's leadership were held. Head of the organization, Vitalie Gorincioi, presented the activity of the Moldova Fruct Management Board in 2020-2023. According to him, for the last 4 years, Moldova Fruct Association has been working in the context of numerous crises and shocks of the world level, with a direct impact on each member of the Association. "If at the general meeting on April 20, 2022, its members discussed the war in Ukraine and the disruption of logistics routes, in the following months they faced a sharp rise in energy and fertilizer prices, a severe drought and the Russian embargo," he stressed. Continuing the presentation of the results, the executive director of Moldova Fruct, Iurie Fala, spoke about the Association's activity in 2023, mentioning the objectives for 2024 and invited the members of the Association to tell about the problems they face. In this context, Farm Prod Director Ion Tulei presented an analysis of production costs per 1 kg of apples in 2018-2023. He noted that in the case of Farm Prod, labor costs have doubled; pesticides/herbicides have risen by 30%; fertilizer costs have doubled; fuel costs have risen by 40%; electricity costs have doubled; and logistics costs have doubled from $3500 to $7000 when exporting to the UAE. Applying the same logic to the whole fruit sector, we can state that these indicators significantly affect the competitiveness of Moldovan fruits on distant markets. The event was attended by high-ranking officials, who proposed solutions to a large part of major problems. Attending the meeting, the Director of the Invest Moldova Agency, Natalia Bejan, emphasized the active civic position of the Association and noted the positive dynamics in the export of fresh fruits. According to her, in cooperation with Moldova Fruct, over the last 4 years, Invest Moldova Agency has supported 17 initiatives to help the Association and its members to participate in various international exhibitions and fairs or to organize events in Moldova. "In total, 568 companies benefited (some more than once), almost 200 new contacts were established and $65 million in additional exports were obtained thanks to the participation in the fairs we supported," Natalia Bejan said. She also said that Invest Moldova Agency approved two more events for which Moldova Fruct requested support. These are the international exhibitions Macfrut and Fruit Attraction. Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Vladimir Bolea said that he sees good results of the specialized associations. According to him, in 2023, the agrarians united in the Association exported significant volumes of plums and took the 1st place in Europe in terms of supplies. This was possible only thanks to the Moldova Fruct Association, which has been working successfully for many years and is the basis for the creation of other professional associations, and the future lies in this model of joint work of agrarians. The results and efforts of the Association's Management Board to solve the problems were positively evaluated by the members of Moldova Fruct. As a result, the Head of Moldova Fruct, Vitalie Gorincioi, and the members of the Board were re-elected for the next mandate. Also, for the first time, 3 vice-presidents of the association were elected for different development directions: Constantin Furculita (director of Vitalitifruct Grup) - for subsidies and investments, Vitalie Obrijanu (director of Fresh Time) - for markets and export procedures, and Mariana Pislaru (director of Staragro Group) - for sustainable development of the sector. During the general meeting, Moldova Fruct members adopted a resolution with a number of requests to the responsible institutions. In particular, they requested from the state authorities the following: fair prices for production means, especially phytosanitary products, oil products and spare parts; legal access to water resources for irrigation of orchards; increased financial assistance for investments in solutions for storage/conservation/filtration/treatment of irrigation water; creation of the Bureau of Horticulture as a self-governing body of the horticultural sector; stimulation of cooperation among agricultural producers through supply and service cooperatives; amending some laws in order to promote the development of fruit producers' services. Moldova Fruct Association represents the interests of about 200 fruit producers, exporters and processors from Moldova. One of the main objectives of the organization is to promote and develop the whole horticultural sector in Moldova, to facilitate cooperation between fruit producers and to implement initiatives to increase the competitiveness and sustainability of the fruit industry. // 20.03.2024 - InfoMarket
