Diplomatist Magazine DIplomatist September 2018 | Page 34

INTERVIEW
H.E. TUDOR ULIANOVSCHI
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
AIR
AIRS
RS
AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
ON
N
OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
OV
OVA
V A
In the the fi rst visit of the Minister
of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Moldova in the last 25 years, H.E. Tudor
Ulianovschi talks openly about the
various aspects of expanding India-
Moldova bi-lateral relations to Senior
Editor of the Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary Diplomatist, Jeethu
Elza Cherian. Excerpts...
Q Sir, could you please tell us about
the agenda of your visit?
It is important to start by highlighting
that this was the fi rst visit of the Minister
of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Moldova in the last 25 years and thus,
the agenda was intensive. Consequently,
during two days we had meetings with
Ministers of External Affairs, Mrs.
Sushma Swaraj; of Agriculture and
Farmers Welfare, Mr. Radha Mohan
Singh; and of Commerce and Industry,
Mr. Suresh Prabhu, as well as other
meetings, including one with the
leadership of the PHD Chamber of
Commerce and Industry, and members
of the Moldovan Diaspora in New Delhi.
We concentrated our talks on
strengthening political dialogue, by
exchange of visits and delegations,
improving inter-ministerial collaboration
and interaction in the international
framework, opening of the Embassy
of the Republic of Moldova in New
Delhi next year, promotion of the
cultural-humanitarian collaboration, and
deepening the economic and commercial
cooperation between our countries.
Q Following your talks with the In-
dian Agriculture Minister, Radha Mo-
han Singh, could you please give us an
idea about the collaboration between
India and Moldova in this sector?
Considering that Moldova is
principally an agrarian country, we are
very much interested in exporting our
agricultural products to India. Moldova
could export apples, pears, walnuts,
plums, dried fruits, vegetable oils, wine,
and other agricultural products. We
confi rmed our common agreement on
applying the World Trade Organization
rules and regulations in the commercial
exchanges of agricultural products
between our countries.
Q Could you please elaborate on the
status of the trade between the two
nations? Which sector, according
to you, has the most potential for
bilateral trade?
34 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 6 • Issue 9 • September 2018, Noida
Currently the annual overall
economic and commercial exchange
between our countries amounts to
around $26 million. Beside export-
import exchanges of some agricultural
products aforementioned, Moldova
is exporting to India plastic goods,
wool, iron, cuprum, aluminum, while
India exports pharmaceutics, organic
chemicals, textile, electric equipment,
and cement to Moldova.
We are very interested in exporting
our wines to India, Moldova being
among the top 20 biggest producers and
exporters of wine in the world.
Q What was the outcome of your
meeting with the Minister of Commerce
and Industry, Suresh Prabhu? Do
you think Moldova and India could
expand on cooperation in the fi eld of
IT (Information Technology)?
Among the most important issues of
our discussion was the consolidation of
the legal bilateral framework in the fi eld
of IT, as well as the Joint Declaration