EU4Digital Facility supported the European Commission in organising a Digital and ICT sector session during the ‘EU-Moldova Private Sector Mobilisation Mission’ launch event in Chisinau on 10 April 2024. The launch event served as a platform to inform participants about various financial instruments provided by the European Union, intended to encourage investment and support the advancement of private sector businesses in Moldova.
Embodying the spirit of collaboration and economic progress, the launch event united more than 200 stakeholders including European officials, Moldova’s governmental representatives, Moldovan and European companies, business associations and agencies, to explore investment opportunities in renewable energy, agri-food, as well as digital and ICT sectors.
Focus on Digital
The speakers in the Digital and ICT sector breakout session organised by the EC and EU4Digital discussed the potential and challenges for further investment in the Moldovan ICT ecosystem. This is a critical engine propelling economic expansion and enhancing Moldova’s competitive edge.
Severin Strohal, Deputy Head of Unit Georgia, Moldova at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), opened the session. He presented the EC’s views on Moldova’s potential for attracting investments for the ICT sector. State Secretary Catalina Plinschi of the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalisation built on this by outlining the local government’s position.
Elijus Čivilis, Head of Invest Lithuania, moderated the session, uplifting the dialogue and inspiring Moldova towards equivalent achievements by drawing parallels with Lithuania’s own successful progression in attracting foreign IT businesses.
Additionally, the leaders of Invest Moldova and Moldova Innovation Technology Park (MITP) shared their perspectives on the Moldovan ICT sector’s investment landscape. They both highlighted the sector’s rapid growth and its strategic significance to the country. In particular, Natalia Bejan, a Director at Invest Moldova, emphasised that, although Moldova is renowned for its great wines, the export of IT services surpasses that of wine exports by four times. She attributed this remarkable outcome to the significant influence of MITP’s work. Natalia Dontu, Administrator of MITP presented the extraordinary conditions for MITP members, who are eligible for a 7% single tax that replaces all taxes due by the IT company and its employees.
Maria Terentiev and Sergey Arsenov from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) discussed European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) private sector instruments, focusing on those that could positively impact decisions to invest in Moldova, mitigating a number of potential risks.
The session culminated in a roundtable discussion between European ICT sector companies, including Orange Systems, Cegeka, Pentalog, AROBS Software, Skayling and Horizon Capital. The companies already established in Moldova provided insights into their motivations for choosing the country as an investment destination, the challenges encountered in the process, and key factors driving their business expansion there including the talent pool and its potential. For instance, Sergiu Placinta, Director of International Operations at Orange Systems, shared experiences of Orange Academy, which boosts the skills of already highly-educated Moldovan university IT graduates, making them even more desirable employees.
The participants also identified which measures the public sector, EC and international partners could implement to incentivise investment decisions – such as continued efforts to grow and keep IT talent in the country as well as increasing the ease of doing business. Tom de Vos, Executive Vice President Global Delivery at Cegeka, acknowledged an excellent fiscal incentive that Moldova is committed to maintaining until 2035. At the same time, he called for a long-term strategy that would allow Moldova to remain on the investors’ map, regardless of the fiscal incentive.
Vasile Tofan, Senior Partner at Horizon Capital, drove the conversation further with a call for bold reforms in Moldova. He advocated for the removal of work and residence permit-related barriers for IT professionals, to help position Moldova at the forefront of digital innovation and make it an even more attractive destination for tech talent and investment.
Consensus on strategy
To sum up, the Digital and ICT sector breakout session provided a valuable opportunity for Moldovan stakeholders to pitch their country and attract more investments, and for the IT business community to be heard by public sector, European Commission and international partners regarding their needs to further expand the IT industry. The discussions culminated in a consensus that: Moldova possesses significant capacity to attract and increase the footprint of EU IT companies within its borders, while a long-term strategic driving force to achieving this is to maintain a focus on human capital development and economic policy specialisation in high value-added sectors.
Further information
Support for this event was provided through the ICT Innovation thematic area of EU4Digital Facility. To find out more about EU4Digital ICT Innovation activities, visit our ‘Explainers’ web content and view our short video ‘This is ICT Innovation’, available in our Library.
Other details about the launch event are available in news articles from EU Neighbours East and EU4Moldova.eu.
- Republic of Moldova
- ICT innovation
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