THE COMPETITIVENESS OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD PRODUCTS OF MOLDOVA ON THE FOREIGN MARKETS: ASPECTS AND TENDENCIES

Abstract

Competitiveness has become a key issue on international markets since it can be
considered as the major source of export development. A country that utilizes the
best its resources within its agricultural sector may benefit from comparative
advantage on international agricultural markets. The paper analyzes the agricultural
and food trade of Moldova from different aspects of inter and intra industry trade.
The aim is to estimate the trend and extent of inter and intra-industry trade in
agricultural and food products of Moldova. The time series from 2001 to 2015 are
examined. Moldova’s share on agri-food exports is still large, but various changes
occurred in the total value and the geographical structure of trade flows during the
analyzed period. The analysis of competitiveness was through estimation of intra -
industrial and inter- industrial trade indices (Relative Trade Advantages (RTA),
Grubel-Lloyd (GL)). The obtained results indicate which agri-food products were
competitive, which had relative advantages and a potential to increase its
competitiveness. The level of intra-industry trade in agricultural and food products
for Moldova is quite high (78%). The results of the intra-industrial trade level
indicated a decrease in European Union (EU) countries and increase in relation
with Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. For most commodity
groups the GL values presented average high variability over time, fact which
reflected the structural changes in Moldavian agri-food trade.