Moldova Investment Climate Reform Phase II Reformer för bättre investeringsklimat Phase II The International Finance Corporation has applied to the Embassy of Sweden in Chisinau for funding of 27 million SEK to carry out the second phase of the "Investment Climate Reform project" in Moldova during the period 2015-2018. 

The proposed intervention aims at supporting Moldova’s sustainable growth through enhanced exports and investments. In order to reap the benefits of the recently signed Association Agreement and the established Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the European Union, Moldova needs to increase the competitiveness of its producers through further regulatory reforms to lower the costs businesses face in complying with regulation, and through the creation of new opportunities for trade and investments. 

The project will address regulatory gaps and further aim at ease of doing business through its work with government bodies, on one hand, and broaden the scope of work with business associations and companies through increasing their competitiveness and compliance with the international standards, on the other hand. Through improved investment climate of the country and enhanced competitiveness of the private sector, the project will strive to achieve direct compliance cost savings for the private sector, increased export volumes of agro-food products to the EU market, as well as increased attracted and retained investments.

The Project will have a direct contribution to building the improved investment climate and regulatory framework in several areas: (i) regulatory streamlining in the area of business operations, licenses/permits/authorizations and inspections; (ii) enhancing market access through regulatory streamlining in agricultural input and output markets, along with competition policy reforms in some agricultural markets, as well as streamlining trade logistics framework; (iii) putting in place legal and policy measures aimed at protecting and retaining investments. The Project will thus support comprehensive solutions for Moldova, involving economy-wide and sector specific reforms. The Project will build on the work and results of the previous Moldova Investment Climate Project (see also Annex 1 for more information on previous Project results). The Project aims to generate significant compliance cost savings for the private sector and enhanced market competitiveness of Moldovan enterprises. This will lead to increased trade opportunities, particularly with the EU, and help the Government create additional space for investments.             

Expected key overall impacts of the Project are: 
?	Cost Compliance Savings (CCS) for private sector of $15 million (at completion);
?	Increased export volumes of agro-food products  to the EU by 15% (at completion);
?	Increased investments (retained and generated) by 20% (2-year post completion). International Finance Corporation (IFC) har ansökt om finansiering hos Sveriges ambassad i Chisinau om 27 miljoner SEK för implementeringen av en andra fas av projektet “Investment Climate Reform” i Moldavien under perioden 2015-2018.

Projektet syftar till att stödja hållbar tillväxt i Moldavien genom förstärkt export och investeringar. För att dra nytta av det nyligen undertecknade associeringsavtalet och det tillhörande djupgående och omfattande frihandelsavtalet med EU (DCFTA) behöver Moldavien öka konkurrenskraften hos sina producenter. Det skall ske genom ytterligare lagstiftningsreformer för att sänka kostnaderna företagen möter i relation till regleringar och genom att skapa nya möjligheter för handel och investeringar.

Projektet kommer att arbeta för att effektivisera lagstiftningen och dess tilllämpning inom näringslivsområdet genom å ena sidan arbete med myndigheter och å andra sidan genom samarbete med näringslivsorganisationer och företag för att öka deras konkurrenskraft och efterlevnad av internationella normer. 

Projektet kommer att bidra till ett förbättrat investeringsklimat och regelverk inom flera områden: (i) en effektivisering av regleringar när det gäller licenser, tillstånd och inspektioner; (ii) ökat marknadstillträde av jordbruksprodukter genom en effektivisering av regelverket för input- och outputmarknader, reformer av konkurrenslagstiftningen och en effektivisering av ramverket för handelslogistik; (iii) införande av rättsliga åtgärder och policyåtgärder med syfte att skydda och behålla investeringar. Projektet kommer att bygga på erfarenheter och resultat från det tidigare Moldovan Investment Climate Project (se bilaga 1 för mer information om det tidigare projektets resultat).

Projektet syftar till att leda till kostnadsbesparingar för den privata sektorn i relation till lagstiftning och regelverk och förbättrad konkurrenskraft av Moldaviska företag. Detta skall ge upphov till ökade handelsmöjligheter, i synnerhet med EU, och stödja regeringen att attrahera ytterligare investeringar.

De förväntade resultaten av projektet är:

- Direkta kostnadsbesparingar för den privata sektorn med 15 MUSD (i slutet av projektet);
?
- Ökade exportvolymer av jordbruksprodukter till EU med 15% (i slutet av projektet);

- Ökade investeringar (behållda och skapade) med 20% (två år efter projektets avslutande). Despite the Government standstill during February – June 2019 caused by the results of the Parliamentary elections, the overall Project progress has not been severely affected. Some activities were slightly delayed, assuming uninterrupted operations by the Government but it were implemented and completed by the end of phase II agreed as of September 30, 2019.
The overall goal of the Project is to enhance Moldova’s exports and investments by improving the business enabling environment, thus boosting the private sector’s market competitiveness to take full advantage of the AA/DCFTA with the EU.
The Project was fully funded by the Government of Sweden, represented by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) in the volume of 33,200,000 Swedish Kronor (SEK).   
The Advisory Agreement with the Ministry of Economy (key project counterpart) has been concluded on 24th of July 2017, and then endorsed and ratified by the Parliament of Moldova in October 2017. The agreement set a client cash contribution of 5% of the total project amount (i.e. USD 160,000), which has been collected in July 2018, based on an additional agreement between the Government of Moldova and IFC with regard to the date of the full payment (a Waiver Letter confirming this has been signed by IFC and the Ministry of Economy). The Government in-kind contribution of at least USD 100,000 provided for in the Agreement, was estimated during this reporting period to be already over-achieved at USD 154,000.  
On September 30, 2019, the Project has finalized its Phase II (Nov 2015 - Sept 2019). The Project has been extended for Phase III till June 30, 2023, for which an Amendment no.4 and no.5 to the Annex A to the Administration Agreement was signed with SIDA for preparatory activities (Inception phase) and afterwards for implementation of Phase III.