Geneva, 10 June 2022
EFTA and the Republic of Moldova delegates met in Geneva for the third round of negotiations.
The third round of negotiations between the EFTA Member States and the Republic of Moldova took place in Geneva on 9 and 10 June 2022. Ambassador Harald Aspelund from Iceland acted as the EFTA spokesperson, while State Secretary Vadim Gumene headed the delegation from the Republic of Moldova.
As several trade fields were concluded in the first two rounds, the negotiations are at an advanced stage. In-depth discussions were held in trade in goods, trade in services, establishment, and legal and horizontal issues. The chapters on electronic commerce and legal and horizontal issues were concluded during the round, leaving market access for agricultural goods as the key open issue.
Bilateral trade between EFTA and the Republic of Moldova has grown steadily since 2016. In total, trade has more than doubled in value from 2016 to 2021, with the total trade amounting to USD 94 million in 2021. For the same year, imports to EFTA from Moldova amounted to USD 40 million, whilst exports amounted to USD 54 million. The main exports from the EFTA Member States were vehicles, pharmaceutical products, and electronics. The imports from Moldova in 2021 consisted mainly of electronics, articles of apparel and clothing, edible fruits and nuts.
Read more about merchandise trade between EFTA and the Republic of Moldova here.
A report about the round will be published shortly.