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Dr Ricardo Giucci, Woldemar Walter

The effect of the DCFTA on Moldovan exports to the EU

Moldova signed a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (DCFTA) with the EU in 2014, which came into force in the same year. After almost five years of implementation, we analyse the impact of the DCFTA on Moldovan exports to the EU.

  • Moldova
NL 53 | May - June 2019
International Trade and Regional Integration

The data show that exports to the EU, measured in US dollars, increased strongly by 60% between 2013 and 2018. In real terms, i.e. at constant prices of 2013, the increase is with 73% even larger. At the same time, the share of Moldovan exports (excluding re-exports)
going to the EU increased by 18 percentage points to 74%. In this respect, the DCFTA had a very strong positive effect.
The effect on the commodity composition of exports is much smaller. In 2018, significantly more categories of goods were exported to the EU than in 2013. However, new goods account for only 3% of the total value. At the same time, the concentration has somewhat increased by 4% and the share of processed products has declined slightly from 73% in 2013 to 70% in 2018, but remains very high.
We expect the overall positive trend to continue. The ongoing adaption of standards should lead to further goods being exported to the EU. In addition, investments in automotive parts sector in Moldova, whose production is primarily destined for the EU market, are currently increasing.

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