On February 4-6, 2024, AmCham Moldova and AmCham Romania, with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau, organized a Business Mission in Moldova from February 4-6, 2024 aimed at promoting the economic opportunities and investment incentives Moldova offers and at facilitating collaboration among companies interested in Moldova's investment prospects.

The Business Forum on February 5, the core part of the Business Mission opened with keynote remarks from high-level leaders on both sides:

AmChams: AmCham Romania President Cristian Sporiș and AmCham Moldova President Alexandru Gozun

U.S. Embassies: HE U.S. Ambassador Kathleen Kavalec and HE U.S. Ambassador Kent Logsdon

Governments: Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Dorin Recean, and Romanian Minister of Economy, Radu Ștefan Oprea.

Members of the AmCham Board of Directors – President Cristian Sporiș, Vice-president Elisabeta Moraru, Board Members Cerasela Băiculescu, Luminița Runcan, Vlad Boeriu and Dinu Bumbăcea and of the Executive Team – Executive Director Letiția Pupăzeanu, Programs Director Manuel Cazac, Advocacy and EU Affairs Manager Raluca Manea, and Advoacy Specialist Oana Dobrițescu joined the AmCham Romania delegation to Chișinău which included than 60 delegates from 40 companies.

Key Messages

AmCham Romania President, Cristian Sporiș announced that that this bilateral meeting opens a series of business missions AmCham Romania plans for 2024 and emphasized that for Romanian companies, Moldova offers a promising emerging market in several key sectors. He expressed the AmCham Romania hope that the business mission  "will contribute to strengthening economic ties between Romania and Moldova and, implicitly, to the overall development of the region."

Alexandru Gozun, AmCham Moldova President emphasized the event's role in stimulating and supporting foreign investment in Moldova. "We have companies here that are already present in the Moldovan market, companies that have started testing the potential for investing in Moldova, and I sincerely hope that these companies will leave with a firm conviction that it is worth expanding their investments in Moldova," added Alexandru Gozun.

Ambassador Kent D. Logsdon welcomed the high interest for this Forum and for investment partnership equally from Moldovan, Romanian, and American companies. He affirmed U.S. support for Moldova's EU accession and democratic, prosperous, and secure future. His Excellency praised the Moldovan Government's commitment to reducing bureaucracy and creating favorable norms and regulations for companies looking to open offices or expand their businesses in the Republic of Moldova and thanked AmChams for organizing this Forum as well as previous contexts facilitating exchanges and doing business between companies in Romania and Moldova.

U.S. Ambassador to Romania, Kathleen Kavalec noted the significant number of participants interested in exploring business opportunities in Moldova and emphasized the importance of this crucial moment when the U.S., Romania, and Moldova share a common vision for security and economic prosperity, shaping the future bilateral collaboration. Ambassador Kathleen Kavalec urged Moldova to make all the efforts towards EU integration which unlocks major benefits and leads to massive transformation, as it did for Romania.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova Dorin Recean assured Forum participants that  “Moldova has talent, innovation, and knows how to learn and quickly adopt know-how from international companies. This is a potential that needs opportunities to be exploited in the good sense of the word by capital, innovation, and initiative from abroad." Prime Minister Recean emphasized that Moldova is focusing its efforts on streamlining administrative procedures, aiming for "de-bureaucratization and digitalization to make the doing business easier."  He also shared Moldova’s efforts during the recent years towards EU integration.

Romanian Minister of Economy, Ștefan-Radu Oprea, confirmed that the important pillars for bilateral economic cooperation are covered by the Forum agenda and include energy, financial services, technology, and health. Minister Oprea highlighted Romania as the main economic partner of Moldova but also the potential for Romania to "diversify exports to Moldova" which will be reflected in the economic growth of both states.

Other Moldovan Government officials participating at the Business Forum included

• Dumitru Alaiba, Deputy Prime Minister
• Minister of Economic Development and Digitalization, Vladimir Bolea,
• Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry, Victor Parlicov,
• Minister of Energy, Dragoș Guțu,
• Director of the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency, Roman Cojuhari,
• General Director of the Public Property Agency.

The Business Forum plenary sessions were followed by four roundtable discussions focused on economic cooperation in the main areas of interest for investment: health, IT, digital transformation, energy, and financial services.

>> The Business Forum was livestreamed here. 

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