Transparent and constructive dialogue with decision-makers, on uniform application of the legislation, and the permanent participation of business in the decision-making process are essential in creating a competitive business environment for all market players. These are the conclusions of the round table "Transparent and inclusive governance: the participation of the business environment in the dialogue with public authorities", held on September 26 in Hîncești. The event, which is part of a series of five round tables organized at the national level, whose purpose is to facilitate the creation of a constructive dialogue between public authorities and the business environment.
"We want a dialogue between the authorities and the entrepreneurs, we want the voice of the business environment to be heard, and the business proposals have priority on the Government agenda. In this sense, communicating with the business environment we became aware of the importance of the preventive law according to which at the first violation, the businessmen are only warned and not punished. Therefore, we want to convince the authorities that they must communicate with the business environment to find common solutions”, says Veaceslav Ioniță, an economist at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Policy (CEEP). In his opinion, the public authorities do not fully and responsibly fulfil the tasks deriving from the law on transparency in the decision-making process, and there is no real dialogue between public authorities and business.
"The business environment has to be very receptive, to participate actively in the decision-making process and to offer proposals to the changes of the legislation or some draft laws, as this directly affects the business activity. Unfortunately, few entrepreneurs come with proposals and participate in the decision-making process”, recommends Tatiana Cojocaru, director of the Hîncești branch of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
According to the representatives of the business environment present, the normative acts are elaborated and adopted without consulting the business, without taking into account their recommendations. Also, the current system of state controls is mainly oriented towards sanctioning the economic agent, even if he committed unintended violations, the exports of agricultural products are monopolized, and the consolidation of agricultural lands is not stimulated, problems that harm the business.
"There should be state support for the promotion of vocational schools. We participate in exhibitions and public events at the national and international level, we also have a label and logo and we are proud of the grape agricultural production, but we cannot promote ourselves. This is the major problem”, says Nicolae Basarab, the director of the Professional School in Leova.
“The laws must work from above - from the president to the simple farmer. We must all be equal before the law. We are very much worried about the monopolization and there is no competition. And the control bodies fine us for any delay of a report. All these things exhaust us", says Alexandru Tabără, a farmer from Cărpineni village, Hîncesti rayon.
And the public procurement system is facing a series of problems related to open data access at all stages of the procurement process. The lack of transparency, but also other major problems in the field lead to public procurement by interests, including political membership. "Public procurement in Moldova will become transparent and efficient when all public procurement procedures will be using electronic platforms, when public procurement will be permanently monitored by civil society and all public procurement contracts will be made public" believes. Viorel Pîrvan, a lawyer at CEEP.
In their turn, the local public authorities consider that the development of the business environment in the Republic of Moldova depends on the observance of the legislation and the permanent communication between the legislator and the entrepreneurs. "The dialogue must be permanent. The legislator must know the problems in all areas of entrepreneurial activity to offer the solutions that are being presented by the entrepreneurs themselves. And then the laws will be perfect because we are constantly evolving and improving the legislation”, considers Natalia Răileanu, the head of the economy and attracting investments, from the Cimișlia Rayon council.
And Ion Sîrbu, the head of the agriculture section of the Hîncești district council, is of the following opinion: “There are problems in all areas, but as in agriculture there is nowhere. And when it comes to controls, the farmer lets his head down and thinks better of paying than having more troubles and with that he will activate later. We talk about problems and sometimes we create these problems ourselves ”.
The issues and recommendations of the participants at the round table "Transparent and inclusive governance: the participation of the business environment in the dialogue with public authorities" are to be examined and included in a position note from the business environment, subsequently submitted to the new Government.
Similar round tables will be held in the cities of Balti, Cahul, Orhei and Soroca.
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The National Business Agenda of Moldova (ANB) represents a common platform of 32 business associations and Chambers of Commerce, created in November 2007, brought together within the network to influence the policies and practices of public authorities in the field of business regulation.
