ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA – TODAY’S CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITES

This article is interesting for businesses, including entrepreneurs and potential investors, as well as for the governmental organizations and public authorities. It provides both an evaluation of Moldova's position on the international socio-economic arena in context of globalization, and suggests action-points and recommendations potentially supporting the growth of the private sector, at the same time fighting poverty and enforcing sustainable economic growth. The purpose of the article is to investigate the influences and challenges of globalization, which, on the one hand, is a positive enabler of global economic development, yet on the other, is a proxy of growing inequality gap between developed and developing economies. Globalization limits the opportunities for qualitative economic growth for a number of developing countries, such as Republic of Moldova, that consequentially are trapped into the 'vicious circle' of poverty. Developing economies must find a way to survive, to restructure towards growth and to remain competitive. To do so they must innovate (technologically and otherwise), since they lack some of the key resources available to the developed industrial economies. One of the main conclusions of the paper suggests that in light of the forthcoming Fourth Industrial Revolution Moldova will have the possibility to ‘leapfrog’ through several stages of the structural ladder at a time entering the path towards qualitative economic growth. Thus, such nations as Moldova do have the potential to break out of the poverty circle and towards qualitative economic development. This particular study is based on the results of the analysis of both quantitative and qualitative indicators of growth of national and international relevance, allowing to track and interpret changes in the economi