Since April 19, the Netherlands has had an official embassy in the Moldovan capital Chisinau, with Fred Duijn as ambassador. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Maia Sandu, Moldova is on a pro-European path and, according to Duijn, the Netherlands supports this Moldovan ambition in various ways. One of the spearheads is the reform of the judicial system, which Duijn calls “incredibly important”.
“You have to be able to take a contract to court if there is a conflict and then you have to trust the judiciary”
Clean reading
According to the ambassador, Moldova was a very corrupt country and is now trying to make it “clean”. As? By subjecting all judges to a screening process. The committee responsible for this was partly funded by the Netherlands and a Dutch judge was also envisaged for this purpose.
If the country had many state-owned companies and oligarch-owned companies, that process is being reversed. “The airport was owned by an oligarch who has now been sentenced to 15 years. This was done in part thanks to the legal expertise that the Netherlands co-financed. We try to help the Moldovan economy in these ways,’ says Duijn. After all, anyone who has a trade dispute and takes it to court needs to be able to trust the judiciary.
“You can just travel here, you can just fly to Chisinau and make contacts”
Dutch-Moldovan Trade Forum
Moreover hands up the embassy tries to connect the Dutch and Moldovan business community. First of all, taking an inventory of what is happening and where the opportunities are. To this end, Duijn wants to organize a Dutch-Moldovan business forum in Chisinau on October 4, focusing on three topics: agriculture, services and manufacturing industry. “This is very broad, but let’s just start by seeing what it takes. Are they, for example, cold stores or food processing companies?’
The Dutch business community already has an important presence in EU member Romania, which borders Moldova. The question is obvious: why Moldova if it can also be done in Romania? Duijn prefers to reverse the question: ‘If you go to Romania, why shouldn’t you also go to Moldova?’ Incidentally, there are already several Dutch companies that think from the same point of view.
«For example, spare parts for agricultural machinery, which you can very well supply from Moldova. There are a number of distribution companies that also look at the region in this way.’ Duijn therefore hopes that a number of Dutch companies that are already active in Romania will also visit the business forum in Moldova.
“If you go to Romania, why not go to Moldova too?”
Signal
According to Duijn, the European summit in Chisinau was “an important signal for Moldova” and Europe is aware of Moldova’s geopolitical position. The country is on a pro-European course, but is strongly opposed by pro-Russian forces both inside and outside Moldova. In the eastern separatist region of Transnistria, there is not even a pro-Russian government recognized by anyone, even Moscow has soldiers stationed there. But Europe, underlines Duijn, supports the Sandu government.
Diamond points
The ambassador mentions three spearheads in Dutch Moldova’s policy that the embassy can implement quickly and smoothly: in addition to the aforementioned judicial reforms, these are tailor-made solutions in the field of cyber and energy.
For example, the Netherlands has placed an IT expert from the Ministry of Defense with that of Moldova. According to Duijn, it is “an expert who also helps structure the capabilities they have and need.” In addition, the Netherlands supported Moldova in the field of energy when Russia’s Gazprom turned off the gas tap at the start of the war in Ukraine to put pressure on the Moldovan government.
“There will be a lot to do in Moldova in the coming years”
To help Moldova replenish its winter supplies, the Netherlands has provided an expert who bought gas on the spot market for the Sandu government. “As a result, Moldova was able to replenish its gas supplies on time, unfortunately also at a higher price.”
Growing interest
Duijn predicts growing interest in Moldova. According to him, the country’s candidacy for the EU is accompanied by ‘many support funds’ from the EU, the EBRD (the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, ed.) and the World Bank. ‘There’s going to be a lot to do over the next few years, I’m really looking forward to it.’
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