Policies to support SMEs in the Republic of Moldova. Results and progress outlined in a report of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

The results and progress of government policies to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were presented in Chisinau during the event “Presentation of the OECD SME Policy Index: Eastern Partner Countries 2024 – Building Resilience in Challenging Times”. The event was hosted by the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization.

The SME Policy Index is a benchmarking tool to assess and monitor progress in the design and implementation of SME policies in line with international and EU best practices. The tool is structured around the ten principles of the Small Business Act (SBA) for Europe and embraces the priorities laid out in the EU’s SME Strategy for a Sustainable and Digital Europe. It guides the implementation of SME policies on the principles of promoting entrepreneurship, improving access to finance, reducing bureaucracy, and improving access to domestic and foreign markets.

The Small Business Act for Europe is a policy framework developed by the European Commission to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Member States of the European Union.

The latest findings on the SME Policy Index scores for Moldova are available here.

Attending the event, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Digitalization Dumitru Alaiba mentioned that this assessment report is an effective tool for improving and monitoring SME development policies, having the role of taking over European and international expertise, and added: “We aim to be a competitive country and, therefore, we focus on entrepreneurship, supporting women in business and greening. Of course, there is a lot to be done in all these areas. That is why we believe that it is most important to invest in people. The laws we make are designed to help and support entrepreneurs. We still have a lot of work to do, but we are happy we have already made progress”.

Severin Strohal, from the European Commission’s Directorate General for Neighbourhood Policies, also spoke online about the results of the report, saying:  “The Republic of Moldova and its SMEs showed resilience, despite all the recent challenges, and the SME Policy Index is a crucial tool and a reference guide for the Moldovan authorities, given that the economic dimension is very important for European integration. In order to cope with the competitiveness on the European market, it is essential to help SMEs to make the necessary changes in order to move from policies to actions, as well as to adapt the legal framework, and the successes can be seen in the OECD report”.

The OECD report on the results and progress of government policies to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was presented by Salomé Will, Policy Analyst, OECD Eurasia, who noted that “Moldova made significant steps forward, and achieved results in 11 of the 12 dimensions of the assessment. Thus, the report shows that SMEs are now working in a more enabling environment, with considerable progress in e-governance services and benefit from a wide range of support and digitalization services. As outlined in the report, Moldova is the best performer in the region in terms of green economy policies for SMEs. We will continue to pursue the reforms, ensuring the implementation of new overarching policy documents, such as the PACC and the Digital Transformation Strategy, further boosting the competitiveness and resilience of SMEs by facilitating access to key support resources throughout the entire lifecycle”.

The presentation of the OECD SME Policy Index 2024 was followed by the first OECD-GIZ Moldova workshop on supporting the digitalization of SMEs in our country. The country-level meeting discussed key challenges, reform priorities and policy instruments related to the digitalization of SMEs in Moldova, based on the recommendations of the OECD SME Policy Index 2024.

The draft recommendations focus in particular on the capacity building for public sector stakeholders and the support for the development of an action-oriented roadmap for the digitalization of SMEs in Moldova.

The Republic of Moldova is committed to the principles and mechanisms for supporting SMEs set out in the Small Business Act for Europe. Since the last assessment of the Small Business Act, steady progress has been made to support SME development and digital transformation. Major steps were taken in aligning technical regulations and quality infrastructure with international standards; taking a comprehensive approach to entrepreneurial learning; promoting smart specialisation and R&D; and prioritising the greening of SMEs.

The SME Policy Index 2024 was developed by the OECD and the EBRD under a multi-country project “EU4Business: From Policies to Action – Phase 2” in the Eastern Partnership, with the financial support of the European Union’s EU4Business initiative and aims to assess the business environment and provide relevant recommendations.