OREANDA-NEWS. February 25, 2013. The volume of the Moldovan-Latvian trade turnover has doubled in the last four years and hit 12 million dollars. However, the participants in the investment forum, which is currently taking place in Chisinau, believe there is a great potential that still needs to be exploited.

The investment forum is one of the first Moldovan-Latvian cooperation actions, after the two countries signed a collaboration protocol in the economic, industrial and technical-scientific sectors on 7 February 2013. More than 20 Latvian companies and dozens of Moldova companies are participating in the current investment forum entitled “Let us discover Latvia as Moldova’s cooperation partner”.

“A number of 17 Latvian companies are operating in the Moldovan agriculture, sylviculture and manufacturing industry,” the department head within the Moldovan Investment and Export Promotion Organisation, Irina Beziazicinaia said. Beziazicinaia also presented a report on Moldova’s investment climate and opportunities.

Deputy Economics Minister Octavian Calmic said the investment forum perfectly fitted in the diversity of actions that had been planned by the joint Moldovan-Latvian commission, which had held its sessions in Riga on 6-7 February. The joint commissions had established a string of activities in 15 sectors, including the agriculture, quality infrastructure, roads, energy and energy efficiency fields, “which are meant to consolidate these ties and boost up bilateral ones,” Calmic said.

During the forum, Moldovan and Latvian officials presented joint business opportunities and trade turnover trends. They also spoke about Moldova’s EU integration prospect. The sides held a series of bilateral meetings in order to consolidate mutual business ties. The officials agreed to start a number of joint projects that would be coordinated by responsible institutions operating in the small and medium business sector.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the volume of the Moldovan-Latvian trade turnout reached about 12 million dollars in 2012. The export of Moldovan goods amounted to 5 million dollars, whereas Latvian imports hit 6.56 million dollars.