The directions and programs of activity of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Moldova were elaborated in order to fulfill the provisions of Law on CCI no. 393-XIV of May 13.1999, and they are representing the main areas on which the efforts of the Chamber is focused in order to ensure favorable conditions for the development of all types of business within the period2017-2022.
During the elaboration of this document, a survey among the members of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova was carried out, involving 502 respondents in it. The survey aimed to assess the activities of the CCI of Moldova during the period 2012-2017, and the quality of the services rendered by the Chamber during that period, in order to determine the priorities for the activities of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova for the period 2017 – 2022.
It is worth mentioning that 85% out of the total number of respondents gave a positive assessment of the CCI activity for the last years and were submitting proposals for the main directions of activities in the future. Outlining perspectives of the CCI of Moldova, most of the respondents identified the following priorities:
– increasing significance of the CCI members in establishing and developing a better business environment in the country;
– sustaining a more effective dialogue and promoting the interests of business representatives vis-à-vis public authorities by establishing a prosperous and competitive business environment by implementing best practices from other countries, adapted to the Moldovan context;
– extending consulting and advisory services in business development, assisting and promotion of different domestic and international projects;
– organizing trainings in the field of human resources for the business sector, promoting and implementing effective systems in training, including advanced training;
– promoting interests of domestic business representatives abroad, also via implementation of the best practices in the field of trade for its facilitation;
– providing support for modernization, application of innovations and by attracting investments;
– improving the expertise and certification services;
– supporting companies by providing business information;
– organization of exhibitions and congresses for the promotion of domestic products and services;
– improving and developing the out-of-court settlement of disputes.
Respondents emphasized the need in providing information support and assistance in accessing financial resources both of the budget and international programs. Over 75% of the respondents pointed out the importance of the CCI in creating a favorable environment for investments.
In order to increase the efficiency of the participation of the CCI of Moldova in the social and economic development of the country, and taking into account the respondents’ opinions, the main directions of activity of the CCI of Moldova were elaborated for the period 2017 – 2022.
Enhancing the CCI members role in establishing and developing a better national business environment
For this purpose, the Chamber plans to:
– establish an efficient working system of the CCI with economic agents in order to motivate them to become a member of the Chamber;
– increase Chambers’ representativeness by its membership, including increase of the number of SMEs members of the CCI and by attracting high-potential trading companies;
– diversify means and modalities of regular consulting between the Chamber and its members for the purpose of discussing issues concerning their business and outlining thus future actions of the Chamber in order to promote and support their interests;
– implement a new partnership program and strengthen available relations between the CCI of Moldova and professional associations of entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations, investors and other companies to carry out joint projects in supporting members of the Chamber and of business associations of our country;
– provide support to economic agents – members of the CCI of Moldova by improving quality and diversifying the range of rendered services, adopting a strategy for the promotion of the CCI services, ensuring a sustainable communication between CCI and its members.
Increasing the efficiency of policy advocacy and lobbying by enhancing the dialogue and the promotion of interests of the business representatives in relation to public authorities
To this end, the Chamber proposes:
– an active participation in policy advocacy activities in co-operation with interested organizations, protection of the interests of the entrepreneurship in the context of the modernization of the governmental policies in business spheres, elaboration of proposals for the improvement of draft laws, legal acts, and national strategies of major importance for the creation of a favorable business environment in the country;
– effective representation of the interests of the members of the CCI and of representatives of the national business community in relations with the public authorities on different platforms (Economic Councils of Central Public Authorities, Inter-Ministerial Committees, Ministerial Boards, ANB, ALB and others);
– strengthening of the Chamber as a dialogue partner in relations to all political, economic and social decision-making authorities, non-governmental organizations and other associations of the civil society;
– lobbying for the reduction of administrative barriers in the entrepreneurial activity along the lines of the annual reports “Doing Business” and “Cost of Doing Business”, issued by the World Bank;
– involving the members of the Sectors Committees of the CCI more actively in the discussion on topics of interest for the business environment.
Extending consulting and advisory services for business development, by assisting in elaboration and promotion of different national and international projects
In order to achieve this goal, the Chamber plans:
– to increase the range of information and advisory services related to internationalization, and extending the sales markets and diversification of trade partners;
– to Provide support in working out business plans for participation in international programs and strive to become a grant beneficiary;
– to assisting economic agents to access internal and external funding sources by providing special information, access to data bases for investment opportunities and to programs of technical and financial assistance;
– to participate actively in the implementation of international projects in cooperation with CCI members and representatives of the local business;
– to Promote initiatives aimed at simplifying the business activity and improving the business climate via the “Electronic CCI” instrument;
– to Support companies in the participation of public tenders.
Training of human resources for business sector, promotion and implementation of effective systems of their basic and advanced professional training
This direction provides:
– the creation of partnerships with institutions of higher education in the context of the modernization and the increase in the efficiency of the Entrepreneurial Training Centers within the framework of the CCI of Moldova;
– the elaboration and implementation of the new programs for professional training of the staff, in order to meet the requirements of the business;
– the ensurance of the functionality of the Moldovan Exporters’ Academy;
– the promotion of the dual training system of vocational training, based on the German model via exchange of experience by learning from good practices in this field;
– the creation and record keeping of the Dual System.
Strengthening of activities of local business representatives abroad
To this effect, the CCI of Moldova will continue:
– to extend relations with Chambers of Commerce and similar organizations abroad to improve Chamber’s activity via exchange of experience and development of international partnerships programs;
– to support the development of foreign trade activities of national enterprises and organizations; – to develop new mechanisms for the promotion of domestic brands on foreign markets, including branding services for economic agents that intend to export;
– to extend possibilities of using different databases of international networks for business development;
– to cooperate with the public authorities (ME, SV, ANSA, etc..,) in order to facilitate exports by removing tariff and non-tariff barriers in international trade;
– to develop partnerships with specialized universities /centers / research institutions in the field of increasing competitiveness of Moldovan export products and to facilitate participation in programs of international cooperation.
Providing support in the economy modernization, using innovations, and attracting investments
The most important aspects proposed to be achieved in this direction are:
– elaboration and implementation of measures to strengthen the business potential, oriented towards innovative activity, modernization and implementation of effective technologies to ensure the competitiveness of domestic goods and products;
– contribution to improving the access of the business to investment resources offered on the national as well as international level;
– assistance in intensifying the collaboration between scientific institutions and representatives of the business community by supporting innovative activities and transfer of technology that is of interest to companies.
– supporting enterprises in profiting from opportunities offered by industrial parks, business incubators and free economic zones.
Improving expertise and certification services
To fulfill these directions the CCI of Moldova aim its activity to:
– further develop and improve the system of “CCI Expert of the Republic of Moldova”;
– upgrading and expanding the range of expertise and certification of goods and of customs broker’s activities provided by the Chamber, ensuring its high quality in this field by increasing the competence of the CCI staff in these domains;
– development of new services in the following domains: auditing and consulting, energy efficiency, compliance assessment, electronic signature, etc.;
– implementation of modern technologies in rendering above-mentioned services.
Support in the field of business information and market intelligence
With that in view, the Chamber proposes:
– to elaborate a dynamic communication strategy of the CCI of the Republic of Moldova, focused on media review and involvement in projects with a major impact on the business environment;
– to promote the image of the Chamber of Commerce as a support organization that is essential for the development and consolidation of local businesses; – to ensure the qualitative development of the CCI website and its integration into a system of new information resources and services in order to meet the demands of the business community;
– maintaining a constant dialogue with business representatives through modern communication platforms, in order to be constantly in know about the needs of entrepreneurs and adapt the Chamber’s offered services respectively. Using well – established social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) to ensure CCI access to a new and dynamic category of potential customers;
– improving the existing company and institution database;
– improving the CCI information project, namely: the electronic version of the bulletin “Dezvoltarea”, initiating partnerships with new organizations and establishing a feedback mechanism with business representatives;
– ensuring the information security of the Moldovan CCI;
– developing of virtual exhibition platforms established by the Chamber, the information system Enterprise Europe Network and other European and international resources for the promotion of products and services provided by the members of CCI.
Organization of trade fairs, exhibitions, and other activities related to the promotion of domestic products and services
Among the most important aspects of this sector, are the following:
– stimulating the activity of the Chamber in the field of exhibitions , intensifying the cooperation with partner organizations in increasing the volume and the quality of the services provided in the field of fairs and exhibitions;
– promoting Moldovan products on new markets via the organization of exhibitions under the banner “Republic of Moldova presents”;
– improving the system of selection, preparation and exhibiting abroad for joint participations that are financially supported by the state budget;
– ensuring the participation of the CCI of the Republic of Moldova in the organization of national and international exhibitions;
– participation in activities of export promotion and support to activities related to the increase of competitiveness of Moldovan products and services on the domestic and foreign market, and also in attracting foreign investments;
– increasing attractiveness of the Quality Awards launched by the CCI of the Republic of Moldova;
– assisting companies in optimizing their dealings with the Customs Service of Moldova, including support in applying the ATA carnet system;
– implementing innovative practices in exhibition activities and providing support for the professional training of staff involved in exhibition activities.
Improvement in the field of out-of-court settlement of disputes
In order to achieve this goal, the CCI of the Republic of Moldova plans the following:
– implementation of activities of the International Trade Arbitration Court within the CCI of the Republic of Moldova and of the Center for Assistance of Innovative Information Technologies, in order to update software and hardware that will allow an optimization of the dispute settlement procedures and thus contribute to the efficient settlement of operative cases; – organization and development of conferences and seminars in the country and abroad with the purpose of promoting arbitration settlement of disputes by assistance institutions;
– continuation of the cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and with the judiciary system of the Republic of Moldova in order to streamline the procedures for the enforcement or contestation of the arbitral awards.