Because of made reforms, the Republic of Moldova is making progress on the economic level. This is the conclusion of the report "A strategy for Moldova" made by the Atlantic Council experts. In a debate held in Washington and attended by Andrian Candu, Speaker of Moldovan Parliament, foreign analysts spoke about the challenges faced by the country and encouraged the authorities to pursue the ambitious program started in 2016.

According the Atlantic Council report, after 27 years from the independence, before the parliamentary elections, Moldova is again at the crossroads. In the desire to build up relations with the West, the Government made efforts to align with Western standards.

"It is important to note that the Government has made some major changes in the economic field, Moldova has registered economic growth, last year it was 4.5% and we have seen that the increase is now 5.2% compared to a year ago, so this growth and stabilization of the economic situation is an important thing to note "- said Timothy Fairbanks, co-author of the Atlantic Council report.

"In the World Bank's index, Moldova grew from position 63 in 2015, a decent place, on 44th this year. This is an excellent performance, a substantial improvement, for me, Moldova seems to be on the right way" said Anders Aslund, co-author of the Atlantic Council report.

The foreign expert warned that in the regional context, Moldova must take into account the dangers it is facing.

"So what is the threat?" As already said, Russia and corruption, because unfortunately, trade relations with Russia are a source of corruption, and that's a big concern, Tim has already mentioned the problem of money laundering in Russia Russia is using Gazprom not as a trade organization, but as a geopolitical weapon and an instrument of corruption for the Kremlin elite", said Anders Aslund, co-author of the Atlantic Council report.

Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu spoke about the difficult situation in the country after the discovery of bank fraud in 2014 and the difficult reforms implemented by the government since 2016 to stabilize the system.

"The first purpose was to rebuild the banking system and it was a huge task with the IMF and the World Bank, with their experience and knowledge passing through legislation, and the system was completely cleaned up. So we now have a controlled banking system in proportion 90% of foreign investors. In a few weeks we will have a new transaction and US capital will finally end up in the banking system"- said Andrian Candu, the Speaker of Parliament.

Andrian Candu said that after the banking financial system was regulated and the economy got on an upward trend, the next priority of Government is education.

"As a priority is already set, the first priority in the next 5-10 years is the preparation of human capital and education. This should be the priority of the country, otherwise we can be good at planning, viewing projects, but we need people which will implement them "- said Andrian Candu, the Speaker of Parliament.

Atlantic Council experts have pointed out that the next period until the parliamentary elections will be critical and called on the international community to continue to support Moldova. This support depends on the future that Moldova will choose and the country's proximity to democratic values.