By Ernst Y.
This week in Kishinev, Moldova, something remarkable is happening. While campaign speeches fill the streets and political posters plaster every corner, the capital is hosting an event that tells a very different story about Moldova’s future: Moldova Business Week 2025.
Ten years after its launch, this annual gathering has become the country’s economic calling card to the world. And this year, the numbers speak louder than any politician: more than 2,000 participants, 700 foreign guests from 40 countries, and strong delegations from Italy, Poland, Romania, Turkey, and Japan.
For a small country often overlooked on the European map, this is no minor feat — it is living proof that Moldova has become a serious player in the regional and even global economy.
A Country Reinventing Itself
For decades, Moldova was seen as little more than a land of vineyards, orchards, and endless sunflower fields. Its reputation was tied to agriculture and remittances sent home by its diaspora. But that story is rapidly changing.
In the past decade, Moldova’s IT sector has flourished, turning the country into an emerging hub for digital innovation. Start-ups are multiplying, technology parks are thriving, and international firms are outsourcing to Kishinev not because of low costs, but because of high talent.
The transformation is quantifiable. In 2024 alone, 8,742 new companies were created and registered — the highest figure in the last ten years. That is not just a statistic. It represents thousands of entrepreneurs who decided to stay, to take risks, and to build their future at home rather than abroad.
Moldova is no longer just an agricultural country. It is steadily becoming a digital hub — exporting not only wine and fruit but also software, services, and know-how. With the EU firmly established as its largest trading partner, Moldovan goods and technologies are already reaching Berlin, Brussels, Warsaw, and beyond.
And behind the figures lies a deeper story: a nation daring to dream bigger. For a country that spent years fighting the stigma of poverty and instability, today’s progress feels like a quiet revolution.
The Fragile Truth
But here’s the catch: this success is fragile.
Foreign investors are not only attracted by Moldova’s talent and opportunities; they are watching closely for political stability and a clear continuation of reforms. They invest not only in markets, but in trust. And trust can be lost overnight.
As Moldova heads toward parliamentary elections at the end of this month, the stakes could not be higher. Political uncertainty can undo in months what took years to build. And for Moldova, a country still consolidating its institutions, the risk is real.
Two Futures, One Choice
On one side lies the path Moldova has been carefully carving for itself over the past decade: a European trajectory defined by reforms, transparency, and the slow but steady dismantling of corruption. This is the path that has attracted global investment, created thousands of companies, and given young Moldovans a reason to imagine a future at home instead of abroad. It is far from perfect — bureaucracy still lingers, institutions remain vulnerable, and corruption has not been entirely eradicated — but it is a path that looks forward, not backward. It is a path that builds, not one that erases.
On the other side stands the Patriotic Block, a Moscow-backed political project that openly advocates for Moldova to pivot away from Europe. Their program promises to “relaunch” economic ties with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and to strengthen links with the BRICS group, including Russia. To some, this language of “relaunch” might sound like diversification — an opening of doors to alternative partners.
But the reality behind the rhetoric is harsher. Diversification requires strong, reliable partners with robust markets and a proven record of investing in growth. Instead, what the Patriotic Block is offering Moldova are fragile, underperforming economies, many of which struggle to sustain their own development. These are partners with little appetite for investing in Moldova’s most promising sectors — IT, digitalization, renewable energy, modern industry.
What would this mean in practice? Moldova risks being downgraded from an aspiring regional hub to a dumping ground for low-quality imports. It would become a playground for grey-economy deals, where shady contracts flourish and transparency disappears. Instead of nurturing innovation, this vision would tether Moldova to outdated industries and unequal trade relations, pushing it back into dependency on markets that offer little in return.
This is not a relaunch. It is a reversal. A reversal back to the corruption networks that once hollowed out Moldova’s institutions. Back to poverty, when families survived on remittances because the local economy had nothing to offer. Back to a Moldova that the world overlooked — a forgotten periphery, instead of a country stepping onto the global stage.
Why It Matters
The choice ahead is not simply political. It is economic. It is social. It is generational.
It is about whether young Moldovans see their future in dynamic start-ups, modern factories, and innovative IT hubs at home — or whether they join yet another wave of emigration, leaving their families behind to search for opportunities elsewhere. It is about whether Moldova continues to strengthen its reputation as a credible, stable, and respected economic partner in Europe — or whether it slides back into the shadows of underdevelopment, trapped in dependency and uncertainty.
This is why Moldova Business Week matters. It is more than just a forum for investors to exchange business cards. It is a symbol of possibility. It is proof that Moldova can stand on equal footing with larger economies, that its people can innovate, compete, and succeed. It shows the best version of Moldova: confident, connected, innovative, and respected.
The presence of thousands of investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers in Kishinev this week is not accidental. It is a vote of confidence — a signal to the world that Moldova is worth betting on. But at the same time, it is a subtle warning: progress is never permanent. Investors can come, but they can also leave. Trust takes years to build, but only days to lose.
The challenge now is political stability, continuity in reforms, and the courage to resist the temptation of short-term populism. It means choosing the future over the past.
The decision facing Moldovans in the coming weeks is therefore not just about who governs. It is about whether the doors that are now open will remain so — or whether they will close again, leaving Moldova once more on the margins of Europe.
Today, Moldova is open for business. The challenge now is to keep it that way.
