OSCE workshop on e-commerce concluded in Chisinau

A four-day national workshop on trade facilitation for e-commerce bringing together more than 50 representatives from public authorities of Moldova and relevant businesses concluded on 4 October 2018 in Chisinau.

The workshop was organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) in response to needs identified by the Moldovan authorities in the area of export facilitation and to security and revenue challenges associated with a growing volume of e-commerce and small, low-value consignments.

Senior representatives from the Customs Service, the Post of Moldova, the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, the National Bank of Moldova, the National Agency of Road Transport, the Consumer Protection Agency, the Economic Council to the Prime Minister/National Trade Facilitation Committee, the National Investment Agency, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, private businesses, as well as the EU High Level Adviser to Moldovan Customs,  discussed potential solutions for customs, postal operators and private stakeholders for the application of international standards in e‑commerce processes. They discussed the facilitation of cross-border e-commerce and tackling associated risks for safety and security.

The workshop was facilitated by international experts from the World Customs Organization (WCO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the European Commission Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, DHL, as well as local experts.

“I must emphasize the strategic priorities to further advance in trade facilitation and paperless trade, which are attracting investments, innovative ideas and technologies, which cannot be achieved without consolidating a conducive business environment,” said Iuliana Drăgălin, Moldovan State Secretary of the Economy and Infrastructure Ministry. “Moldova’s Government has always emphasized the importance of government-business partnerships and a multi-stakeholder approach, which brings together representatives from governments, business, international organizations and e-commerce operators.” 

Topics on the agenda included models for revenue collection, new tools for advanced electronic data exchange and data sharing among authorities, pre-arrival processing, simplifications to facilitate exports by micro and small enterprises, as well as tools to tackle safety and security aspects of e-commerce on technical and legislative levels. The workshop concluded with a summary document containing recommendations for Moldova.

Jonas Grätz, Economic Adviser at the OCEEA, said that a large number of active participants showed that interest in Moldova to explore new solutions to tackle security challenges and reap the economic benefits of growing cross-border e-commerce is great: “It is reassuring that the workshop concluded with a summary document including concrete recommendations that can be followed up upon by the authorities, the private sector, and donors.”

This activity 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.