Over the past 15 years, the Bălți Free Economic Zone has become the leading industrial hub among Moldova’s free economic zones. According to the zone’s administration, the total volume of investment in the zone has reached $362.4 million, accounting for 55.4% of all investments attracted to the country’s six free economic zones. In other words, more than half of the investments in this economic development tool are concentrated in a single zone.
At first glance, this is a success story for a specific FEZ. But in essence, it is an indicator of how Moldova’s industrial base has developed in recent years: not evenly across the country, but through specific sites where investors were offered clearer terms, tax and administrative incentives, infrastructure, and the opportunity to operate under an export-oriented model.
By the end of 2025, the “Bălți” SEZ had 90 residents and 9,378 jobs. This represents 72.9% of all employees working for residents of Moldova’s free economic zones. By comparison, the “Ungheni-Business” SEZ employed 2,144 workers, the “Expo-Business-Chisinau” SEZ — 544, in the “Valkaneş” FEZ — 502, in the “Tvarditsa” FEZ — 221, and in the “Taraclia” FEZ — 67 people.
In 2025, sales at the “Bălți” SEZ grew by 3.1% to 9.97 billion lei, while sales of industrial products increased by 3.7% to 9.66 billion lei. Moreover, the “Bălți” SEZ accounted for about 14.6% of Moldova’s total exports in 2025.
For the Moldovan economy, this is both a strength and a vulnerability. It is a strength because the country has gained an industrial platform that generates exports, jobs, and investment. It is a vulnerability because a significant portion of the industrial potential of the free economic zones is concentrated in a single location. If the development of the Bălți FEZ slows down, this will be evident not only in the zone’s own financial reports but also in overall indicators of exports, employment, and industrial production.
Free economic zones in Moldova were created as a tool to attract investment and stimulate production. In practice, the Bălți FEZ has become the most compelling example of how such a tool can work if a critical mass of investors and workers gathers around it. But this same example also raises another question: why has a similar effect not been replicated to the same extent in the other zones?
As of the end of 2025, the total volume of investment in all of Moldova’s FEZs amounted to $653.8 million. Following the “Bălți” SEZ are the “Ungheni-Business” SEZ with $123.1 million in investments and the “Expo-Business-Chișinău” SEZ with $86.2 million. Investments in the “Valkaneș” SEZ totaled $38.2 million, in the “Tvarditsa” SEZ — $24.1 million, and in the “Taraclia” SEZ — $19.8 million. The gap between the top zone and the rest is too wide and is primarily the result of successful management. It is also a matter of economic geography, infrastructure, availability of personnel, logistics, and the quality of the investment offering.
For the government, the main takeaway is not simply that the “Bălți” SEZ should be considered a successful project. It is important to understand which elements of this model can be scaled up: site preparation, working with investors, vocational education, connections to export markets, localization of suppliers, infrastructure, and support for residents after they arrive in the country.
In 2025, investment in all of Moldova’s free economic zones grew by 9.3%, and FEZ residents accounted for approximately 19.1% of the country’s total goods exports. This confirms that free economic zones remain one of the few tools through which Moldova has been able to attract industrial production and integrate into international supply chains.
But the next stage will be more challenging. A special regime alone is no longer enough. Competition for investors in the region is intensifying, labor costs are gradually rising, and industry requires not only incentives but also roads, energy, a skilled workforce, predictable regulations, and access to financing. Therefore, the story of the “Bălți” SEZ is not only a report on the results achieved but also a test of whether Moldova can move from isolated successful zones to a broader industrial policy.
The Bălți SEZ has demonstrated that it is possible to create a functioning industrial platform in Moldova. The question now is whether it will remain an exception or become a model for the development of other regions. //July 10, 2026 – InfoMarket.