Since 2016, the Republic of Moldova has made moderate progress in further developing a conducive business environment for SMEs. Moldova has advanced in the implementation of the SME Development Strategy 2012-2020 with substantial progress in the reduction of burdensome regulation, the implementation of regulatory impact analysis and the provision of business development services for SMEs. Noteworthy reforms also include reinforced policy framework for entrepreneurial learning, start-up support for young entrepreneurs, an expansion of the credit guarantee scheme, broadened e-government services and a formalised public-private dialogue platform.

Moldova has advanced in the implementation of its 2012-2020 SME Development Strategy, removing redundant bureaucratic requirements on enterprises, expanding e-government services and implementing programmes to alleviate barriers to doing business. These reforms have been reflected in the 2020 World Bank Doing Business report, which ranks Moldova 48^th, up from 63^rd in 2015. Moldova performs relatively well in the starting a business and registering property indicators, but underperforms in the dealing with construction permits indicator (World Bank, 2019[6]). According to the 2019 Global Competitiveness Index, Moldova ranks 86^th out of 141 countries, with the financial system, including the financing of SMEs, (ranked 124^th and 93^th respectively), remaining one of the most problematic issues despite a slight improvement compared to 2018 (World Economic Forum, 2019[7]).

The new definition of SMEs adopted in 2016 is in line with EU and international good practices. It uses employment, turnover and balance sheet criteria to determine whether a company is a micro, small or medium enterprise. While the employment criteria are consistent with the EU definition, thresholds for turnover and assets are lower in Moldova, reflecting Moldova’s lower per capita incomes.

Under the new definition, 98.7% of all firms in Moldova in 2018 were SMEs, accounting for 59.8% of business sector employment and 70.7% of value added (2017).

SMEs tend to be concentrated in low-value-added sectors – although less concentrated than in other EaP countries – such as trade (including repair of vehicles), professional, scientific and technical activities, and manufacturing.

Source: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/d1afa5b8-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/d1afa5b8-en