Hard times are ahead for the automotive industry in Moldova, it is necessary to establish a B2G dialogue in order to get through this period with minimal losses.
This was discussed at the discussion session of the Dialog Pro-Business platform organized by the Investment Agency, where the situation in the automotive industry was discussed. It is worth noting that the auto industry sector in Moldova today is more than 300 million euros of investments, and more than 20 thousand people are employed in its work with an average salary of 10 thousand lei per month. The seven free enterprise zones operating in Moldova provide almost 50% of the country's industrial production. At the same time, automotive industry enterprises operating in the FEZ "Balti" provide 33% of exports of industrial goods from Moldova and 15% of the country's total exports. As the administrator of the FEZ "Balti" Marin Ciobanu noted, due to the hostilities in Ukraine, the investors-residents of the zone had logistics problems, production chains were broken, many companies stopped producing cars, including due to the interruption in the supply of subcomponents produced in Russia and Ukraine. The largest residents of the FEZ "Balti" say that there are risks of losing up to 50% of the production volume located in Moldova. “Our task is to collect all the information, provide it to industry participants and the government, so that appropriate decisions can be made depending on the current situation,” Ciobanu believes. He noted that one of the problems that intensified during the military crisis in the region is the shortage of qualified workers for the auto industry of Moldova, suggesting that we consider the experience of other countries in resolving this issue (providing payment for a job created by an investor, subventions from special funds, etc.) Draexlmaier CEO Guido Meinelt said that the corporation he represents operates in a just-in-time mode, when deliveries come from the wheels, and this work has been well established. “It is important to maintain the current customs procedures and structure, to avoid any reorganizations that will negatively affect our work. And then we can bring in new investors. The government needs to create anti-crisis programs to support the automotive sector in Moldova. The crisis will pass sooner or later, and the automotive industry in Europe is the engine of economic development - this industry in the country is a locomotive and will pull the development of industrial production," he said. The Executive Director of the Association of Employers from the Manufacturing Industry, Ion Tornea, believes that due to the crisis in the automotive sector, there is a risk of losing 50% of production, which is 15-20% of the country's exports. “The sector employs 20,000 people, half of whom are at risk of losing their jobs. It is unlikely that the auto industry will be completely protected, but if measures are taken, the negative consequences can be minimized,” says Tornea.// 14.03.2022 — InfoMarket
