AGRI-FOOD TRADE AND THE E.U. MARKET: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR MOLDOVA

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess the development on Moldova’s agri-food trade flows on the E.U. market. Thus the main changes and tendencies in the agri-food trade structure and distribution markets is analyzed. The research is based on the analysis of secondary data, provided by National Bureau of Statistics. The examined time series belong to 2012-2017. Trade liberalization has as a positive outcome an increase in the volume of agri-food exports of Moldova, particularly in terms of specialization and concentration of production and diversification of the geographical distribution. Another positive result is the decrease in the dependence on traditional markets. This fact imposed the increase in both quality and variety of exported articles. Due to the DCFTA there is an increase in trade flows with E.U. The agri-food market is important for the stabilization of the national economy, because of its valuable contribution to GDP. Thus is important that the government supports the modernization of the agri-food sector and stimulates to attract investments which will run its further orientation.