Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova H E Natalia Gavrilita. Pic: Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula
Mohammed Osman Ali & Irfan Bukhari \ The Peninsula
Praising Qatar’s progress in various sectors made in recent years, Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova H E Natalia Gavrilita has said that there exists a lot of potential in diversifying bilateral trade between Qatar and her country.
“There is also a lot of potential in terms of attracting Qatari investments in the Republic of Moldova and also attracting tourists from Qatar,” she said in an exclusive interview with The Peninsula during her visit to Qatar yesterday.
Prime Minister Gavrilita said that agriculture and food are good areas for cooperation between Moldova and Qatar besides tourism, pharmaceutical, IT, business process operations, etc.
Talking on her meeting with H E the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, H E Natalia Gavrilita said: “Indeed I was grateful for the invitation of the Prime Minister H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani to visit Qatar in the context of the 25th anniversary of our bilateral relations which we celebrate on 13th of June (today). I have received a very warm welcome here.
“I am very impressed with the progress Qatar has made in the last several years, generally in economic terms, and also in terms of ensuring food security for the country especially in this difficult time by organising logistics in such an impressive way.”
Prime Minister Gavrilita added: “We discussed ways through which Moldova and Qatar can cooperate more closely. We have bilateral relations for 25 years; there is a lot of potential in diversifying our trade, also in terms of attracting Qatari investments to the Republic of Moldova and also attracting tourists from Qatar.”
To a question about bilateral pacts, she said that the two countries have developed a bilateral framework and they continue improving it by signing a number of agreements over the years.
“Today we signed two more agreements; one is on visa facilitation and the other one is on cooperation in agriculture. We are also looking forward to make sure that the number of agreements ratified enter into force and there are a number of agreements including one on double taxation that is under negotiations… so we will certainly move forward on the agenda of improving our framework agreements to facilitate the development and improvement of our bilateral relations.”
It is to be noted that Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani held yesterday an official talks session with Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova H E Natalia Gavrilita.
During the session, the two sides discussed relations between the two countries, and ways to develop and strengthen them in various fields, especially economic, agricultural and food security, in addition to discussing the latest regional and international situations of mutual interest.
The Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and the Prime Minister of Moldova Natalia Gavrilita also witnessed the signing of an agreement on technical, scientific and economic cooperation in the field of agriculture, and an agreement on the abolition of entry visas for holders of ordinary passports between the two countries.
Talking on level of bilateral trade in the interview, the Prime Minister of Moldova said there’s room for improvement as the current trade value stands at around $1.5m.
She added that feed for livestock from Moldova to Qatar is a significant trade item but some of these operations have been disrupted due to logistic complications; first due to COVID-19 pandemic and most recently due to war in Ukraine.
“We have to continue working. This is why there are meetings between Qatar Chamber with our Ministry of Commerce, our investment agency. We will continue working to improve our trade relations,” she stressed.
When asked about potential areas of cooperation between Moldova and Qatar, the Prime Minister said that she had discussed areas of cooperation with Qatar Chamber.
“Of course agriculture and food sector in general is a good area for cooperation. We also have potential in tourism sector… we also have potential in sectors like pharmaceutical, IT, business process operations, etc.
“Very soon we will come with new fiscal policy looking forward to provide even better incentives to businessmen and investors. In terms of purchases from Qatar, we are interested in diversifying our energy resources… we are interested in improving and increasing our renewable energy. We have faced a crisis in October in terms of gas provision… we are now looking to increase reserves and create long-term alternatives.”
Yesterday, Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova Natalia Gavrilita invited Qatari businessmen to invest in her country during her meeting with Chairman of Qatar Chamber Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani.
During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations in the commercial and economic fields and ways to enhance them. Also, they reviewed the investment climate, available opportunities, and the role of the private sector in building strong commercial relations between the two sides.
In the meeting with Qatar Chamber Chairman, Prime Minister Gavrilita praised the strong Qatar-Moldova relations, noting that she is looking forward to strengthening these relations, especially in the trade and investment fields. She explained that her country is looking forward to attracting Qatari investors.
Meanwhile, she praised Qatar’s preparations to host 2022 FIFA World Cup saying, “I congratulated the Prime Minister for the progress Qatar has made in preparations of the World Cup. It is quite an achievement that the World Cup is being hosted in a Gulf country especially in this time when after COVID-19 the whole world will be rejoicing a mega sporting event.”
She further said that it will be a grand event for the whole world with the final to be played on Qatar’s National Day.
Commenting on Russian-Ukrainian crisis, she said that it was an aggression on Ukraine and the unjust war had brought terrible consequences first of all for the Ukrainian people with its huge economic and social impact and then on the neighbourhood and on the global scale.
She said that Moldova is going through difficult times due to the war in Ukraine and its economic, social consequences.
“We have received a large number of refugees… we have shown that we are a small country with a big heart. Despite all the crises, we are moving forward with necessary reforms to join the European Union and become a country that is attractive for investments (from across the globe) including from the State of Qatar.
“Moldova received first wave of refugees when about half of million people crossed the Ukrainian-Moldovan border… some for transit and some decided to stay in Moldova. At this moment, we have about 80,000 people who are still in Moldova and they are mostly women and children; half of the refugee population in Moldova is of children.”
She noted that Moldova is working hard to provide all the services to refugees to integrate them in educational and health systems to make sure that Moldova supports them in these difficult times.
“Of course there are economic consequences for Moldova. The port of Odessa is the most important hub for exports and imports from Moldova which is shut now… we had trade and remittances from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus which have reduced.”
“We see this logistics crisis. We are working with our partners to increase capacity for border crossing, between Moldova and Ukraine, for transportation of goods especially agricultural goods to make sure that we support the food security in the region and globally.”
She said that the world is facing a hike in prices and countries with lower income like Moldova are heavily impacted.
“Food inflation in Moldova has already reached 29% and growth will also slow down. After COVID-19 pandemic, after energy crisis, we are now seeing repeated shocks on our economy.”
To a question about the way out of Russian-Ukrainian crisis, the Prime Minister of Moldova said: “First of all we have to find a solution to end the war and it is the responsibility of the entire international community. Right now there is no apparent way out. Respect of international principles and sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine is very important to keep trust on international law alive.”
She noted that there is a lot of uncertainty that makes it difficult to predict and prepare for what will happen next. “We have made a decision to accelerate accession to the European Union so we made a request to the EU in the beginning of March. We look forward to the opinion of the Commission in this regard which is expected to come next week and then the decision of the European Council later in June. We have hope the EU will take the decision to grant candidate status to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. We hope that negotiations will start with Albania, North Macedonia, and the integration of Balkan countries will accelerate as well.”
She added: “We think it is a very important signal for our people who are going through difficult times but are very much supportive of pro-European reforms. Despite all the crises, we are moving with advancements on the rule of law, combating corruption, and consolidating democratic values. Our people want assurances that if they go through these crises, they see the light at the end of the tunnel and they will be part of the big family of European states.”
