Moldovan small, medium-sized enterprises to work under new law

Chisinau, 21 July /MOLDPRES/ - The parliament today adopted a draft law on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), which establishes the legal framework for their work and support measures on behalf of the state to create and develop SMEs.

Under the new provisions, the state controls made in the first three years of enterprise’s work will be consultative, except for cases when offences are found out. At the same time, entrepreneurs who do not have enough resources to develop business will be able to ask for assistance from the fund of guaranteeing credits for small- and medium-sized enterprises. The fund is aimed at facilitating accessing of credits by the enterprises which have no enough security, offering guarantees of returning the loan in the conditions set.     

The draft law establishes the creation of the Consultative Council for Small- and Medium- Sized Enterprises, empowered with the task to analyze “the evolution of the sector and develop recommendations to improve the business environment. The Council will represent a platform of dialogue for entrepreneurs and public authorities, in order to give the business environment possibility to participate in the upgrading of the legislative and normative framework,” the draft law reads.  

To enhance competitiveness and develop the entrepreneurial spirit among young people, the document sees introduction of entrepreneurial education at all levels of the education system, starting from the primary one.

The small- and medium-sized enterprises account for 97.4 of all the enterprises recorded and cover 56.2 per cent of all employees. In 2014, the SMEs’ quota in the Gross Domestic Product was of 32.2 per cent.   

The law will enter into force upon expiration of 90 days after its publication in Moldova’s Official Journal (Monitorul Oficial).  

(Reporter A. Plitoc, editor M. Jantovan)