Business Environment for Development of Enterprises in the Republic of Moldova

Abstract

Moldova is a relatively small, landlocked country with few natural resources apart from its agricultural land. In last years, the contribution of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) was a little bit lower than 30% of the national GDP. This modest contribution corroborated the relative weight of SMEs in turnover and employment, which has decreased since 2010. Moldova's business environment remains sensible to the volatile macroeconomic environment, structural challenges in the financial sector, crisis in the banking sector, internal political instability, and regional geopolitical instability. The aim of this chapter is to analyze the business environment in Moldova in terms of the existing regulatory framework, identifying barriers and constraints, and analysis of programs and policies to strengthen it, along with synthesizing and developing recommendations to enable the business environment. Technology business incubators and their role in the Moldova's economy are analyzed in the final section. Analytical findings of the author are illustrated through several interactive figures.