OREANDA-NEWS. January 29, 2014. "Our goal is to provide living conditions that would motivate the villages’ inhabitants not to leave, that is, jobs with competitive salaries, modern services, utilities." Economics Minister Valeriu Lazar today made the statement at aa meeting with European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Ciolos and EuropeAid Development and Cooperation (DG DEVCO) representative Isabella Combez, the Economics Ministry’s information and media communication service has reported.

In his tenure of deputy prime minister, coordinator of more fields, including agriculture, regional development, infrastructure, environment and others, Valeriu Lazar welcomed the initiation of a direct and open communication in order to enhance the efficiency of policies initiated in these sectors.

"We are expecting a period of transformational processes in all areas - both political, and economical; therefore, why we direct our efforts to maximise the opportunities given by the EU-Moldova Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA). Before signing the Agreement, we made a detailed analysis of each sector of the economy, the present risks, and an impartial diagnosis for each field that we included in a Roadmap to increase competitiveness. In our opinion, the general solution to the identified issues is namely to increase competitiveness. For it is not because of the provisions of the above-mentioned Agreement some of our businesses could face difficulties on the market, but due to low competitiveness. The agreement only speeds up the process to boost competitiveness and gives us predictability, both on the domestic market, and on the European one, enhancing our investment attractiveness. This is exactly what we needed," said Valeriu Lazar.

The deputy prime minister also thanked the European official for his continuous assistance to the Moldovan government, including the Economics Ministry, through the National Actions Programmes (direct budget support, technical assistance, twinning), regional, cross-border cooperation and macroeconomic assistance programs. These are added to the policies matrix and ensure the necessary synergy for the maximum impact of government reforms.

For his part, Dacian Ciolos assured that he was willing to support Moldova not only on the coordinated field, but also for Moldova’s entire portfolio, including industry, commerce, etc. The European official noted that the negotiated agreement was very a good compared to other countries, including in the agriculture field. "You were very good negotiators and obtained concessions for the first time ever, compared with other countries in the same negotiation process - for fruits, vegetables, wine. Also, the asymmetry and the transition period for the agro-food sector," said Dacian Ciolos.

In this context, the commissioner backed the need to more actively inform the citizens about the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, which, to his mind, may be presented in a larger package, along with assistance programs and Moldova’s access to investment credits through the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development etc.

In the end, Valeriu Lazar noted that, for the future cooperation framework between the European Union and Moldova for 2014-2020, the Economics Ministry would fully involve in the implementation of structural changes, aimed at boosting the competitiveness of Moldova, balanced development of all the country’s regions, including the development of the agri-food sector with high value added, would continue to help diversify the rural economy, etc.