Cross-border e-commerce and digital skills focus of workshop co-organized by OSCE in Chisinau

CHISINAU, 20 December 2018 - Accessing new markets by improving digital skills was the focus of a three-day training course held for the representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises, which concluded today in Chisinau.

Built around e-commerce, a rapidly emerging trend that offers opportunities in enhancing connectivity, the course was organized and moderated by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Moldova. More than 30 business representatives from different sectors and regions, among them many owners and directors, attended the course.

“The OCEEA has not only supported trade facilitation for e-commerce, but also brought together the business community from both banks of the Dniester,” said the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, Vuk Žugić, commenting on OSCE’s engagement for e-commerce in Moldova. “This serves to highlight the confidence-building potential of economic connectivity.”

Diana Levcenco, Economic Consultant at the Economic Council to the Prime Minister of Moldova stressed the importance of the course in the context of the National Action Plan for Trade Facilitation. “The support of the OSCE has been crucial in raising the capacity of businesses to engage in cross-border e-commerce.”

The aim of the training course, says Jonas Grätz, Economic Adviser at OCEEA, is to help build a stronger economy as well as the formation of new business partnerships and enhanced confidence.

“This activity has been designed to strengthen the voice and the capacity of businesses to use the new possibilities that e-commerce holds – to access new markets, form new networks, win new customers and ultimately grow their business,” said Grätz.

During the course, business strategies and policy experiences from other countries were shared by an expert of the International Trade Centre, Geneva.

Representatives of the Moldovan Economic Council, the National Bank, the Customs Service and financial private institutions spoke about new possibilities for businesses to make themselves heard, online payment options, export-import procedures, online marketing and social media promotion and integration within the existing e-commerce platforms. 

This activity follows a national workshop on trade facilitation for e-commerce organized by the OCEEA in Chisinau from 1 to 4 October this year. It is a part of the OSCE extra-budgetary project Promoting Connectivity in the OSCE, funded by Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Moldova is one of the beneficiary countries alongside Belarus and Kazakhstan.