Events
International Conference on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
On 16 October, the Ministry of Economy and the Organisation for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Sector Development organised the International Conference of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises with the generation “SME Sector → Moldova 2020”, held as part of the “European Week of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises”.
Around 250 people, business representatives, central and local public authorities, state, private and non-government organisations and other institutions, active in supporting the development of SMEs, participated in the event.
With congratulation at the opening of the Conference were Mr Valeriu Lazăr, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy, H.E. Dirk Schuebel, EU Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, Mr Abdoulaye Seck, Director of the World Bank for the Republic of Moldova and H.E. Ingrid Tersman, Ambassador of Sweden to Chisinau.
Minister for the Economy Lazăr pointed out that the event is a very important communication platform between SMEs, authorities, financing institutions, etc. In order to create effective policies, the Ministry of Economy needs continuous communication with representatives of the SME sector, and signals concerning everyday life, practical problems faced by economic operators, are very important to us and are taken into account when developing policies in the sector.”
Ingrid Tersman, Swedish Ambassador to Chisinau, mentioned that she was actively working with the Government of the Republic of Moldova to implement projects to support entrepreneurship in the Republic of Moldova, including UTA Gagauzia and Tiraspol.
In addition, Mr Abdoulaye Seck, Director of the World Bank for the Republic of Moldova, noted a positive side to the business environment in the Republic of Moldova, namely the 30 % increase in the number of SMEs compared to previous years. SMEs in the Republic of Moldova this year have strengths ", he mentioned. Seck. in the light of the foregoing. The Director noted that RM has a small market and therefore companies need to export. “Moldova ranks 141th in the world after export”, this is not a good indicator and needs to be worked on in the given chapter.
During the working conference, 3 panels were organised on the following topics.
— Female entrepreneurship in the Republic of Moldova.
Competence for competitiveness.
— Business support infrastructure.
Around 50 participants took part in the panel “Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Republic of Moldova”, discussing the issue of women’s involvement in business, the development of specific policies to support women in the creation and development of SMEs, the creation of networks and the development of mentoring programmes to encourage women to start new businesses. Also on the working panel were some successful examples of female entrepreneurs who told their history of starting and managing a business, “not easy but not impossible”, says Ms Ruslana, director of Chromotime SRL.
A successful businesswoman is Silvia Lazu, founder of the ‘Bombonici’ SRL in the village of Sadaclia rl. Cimișlia. Mother of 4 children, Silvia aspira de mica becoming a vestimendar designer, and her children became role models for the new improvised huts of the founder, Bombonici”. With the financial help of his relatives, Silvia set up a family business, which brings him a constant profit and spiritual satisfaction.
The business currently employs more than 60 people, who are trained and guided by the founder, Bombonici, and is planning to expand its business in the future, as it is already export-oriented.
This panel was completed with a set of conclusions and recommendations from the participants, namely:
— Launching and developing credit lines with subsidised interest rates for older women;
Drawing up special programmes for the financing of women with an integrative approach;
Improving and improving access to information (creation of one-stop shops);
Support for women’s organisations and associations at national level and their integration into European and global networks;
— Increasing Donor Investment in Women’s Economic Empowerment;
— Involvement of the private sector in promoting the principles of women’s empowerment (UN Women/Global Compact principles);
Networking and the development of mentoring programmes to encourage women to start new businesses;
Providing advisory services free of charge to women’s export-oriented SMEs;
On the panel “Competence for Competitiveness”, he moderated Syria Taurelli, Senior Specialist in Governance and Lifelong Learning – Country Manager. The panel discussed the importance of business competence as well as the impact of public-private collaboration to prepare frameworks for entrepreneurship. The panel was attended by 50 participants who came up with proposals to finish the panel, namely:
The creation of a National Skills Development Agenda;
Examine the appropriateness of the creation of the National Fund for Skills Development for the mobilisation of resources.
Negotiating with development partners for participation in the ‘STEP SKILLS’ international project to assess the skills profile of the workforce, etc.
Panel 3 ‘Business Support Infrastructure’ was moderated by Philip Santens, Team Leader of the ‘Economic Stimulation in Rural Regions’ (ESRA) project. Business support infrastructure is an ideal combination of free economic zones, business incubators, which require faster access to finance, training, consultation and conciliation.
Around 80 people registered for the panel, who discussed Business Support Infrastructure as an ideal mix of physical infrastructure (free economic zones, business incubators, etc.) and service infrastructure (access to finance, training, consulting/advisory, etc.). They have to operate in one place (a gender one-stop-shop approach), the moderator mentioned. Real examples of the business support infrastructure in the Gala country have also been provided. Also here, at the end of the panel, the representatives of Panel 3 made proposals for improvement, namely:
— Continued state support for the PNAET, PARE 1 + 1, FGC, etc. programmes
— The creation of public – private partnerships;
Strengthening the legal framework of Business Incubators, etc.
During the course of the programme, the event also hosted the Exhibition of institutions, organisations, programmes and projects in support of the SME sector, which advises participants.
At the same time, the ‘Panoply of proposals’ was exhibited in the hall, where participants set out their grievances and visions for improving the business environment and the ‘Exchange of contacts’, which aimed to identify business partnerships.
Thus, at the end of the Conference, the conclusions and recommendations of the partners proposed and discussed in the working panels were presented, and representatives of local public authorities will take into account those presented for their implementation.
For details of the event, please contact us by phone: (0 22) 29 57 41, 22 53 84 or email