The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova (CCI) presented the results of the National Exhibition “Made in Moldova” 2019 and together with the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI) announced the launch of the contests “Trademark of the Year 2018” and “Quality Achievements Award 2018” within the framework of a press conference.

According to Sergiu Harea, President of the CCI of the RM, the 18th edition of the National Exhibition “Made in Moldova” 2019 was visited by circa 53,000 people, who appreciated the products’ quality and the prices of the exhibitors. Among the visitors are also people from Romania, France, Latvia, Holland, Belgium, Great Britain, Pakistan, and Italy. At the same time, the exhibition was visited by a considerable number of students and pupils. They showed interest not only in domestic products but also in the business program, attending various seminars, conferences and roundtables. During the exhibition, more than 60 collaboration contracts and agreements of intent between the local economic agents and the representatives from abroad were initiated. Most of the contracts concluded were in the field of fruit and vegetable preservation, packaging, textiles, provision of services, etc.

The 450 economic agents, representing the food industry, the wine growing and making branch, the furniture industry, the light industry, the machinery and equipment, the scientific research institutes, the craftsmen and other fields presented their products and services on an area of ​​over 4,680 m². At the same time, 11 activities within the business program were organized during the exhibition, which were attended by about 1,450 people.

The National Exhibition “Made in Moldova” has once again demonstrated that it is rightly the most efficient platform for promoting domestic products, researching consumer opinion, new products and services, and highlighting the level of competitiveness of national companies.

The results of the survey conducted by the CCI of the RM show that the economic agents participate in the exhibition to: 70%- find new clients and partners; 60%- keep their image on the market; 55%- promote/launch a new product/service; 45%- inform the consumer about their products/services and 35%- meet with business partners,” said Sergiu Harea.

Also during the press conference, the CCI of the RM and AGEPI launched the contests “Trademark of the Year 2018” and “Quality Achievements Award 2018”.

According to Lilia Bolocan, Director General of AGEPI, in the 18th edition of the contest “Trademark of the Year 2018”can participate enterprises and organizations with various forms of ownership, legal persons registered in the Republic of Moldova, as well as natural persons producing material goods and/or providing services on the territory of the country. Only trademarks (national and foreign) that are registered and valid on the territory of the Republic of Moldova at the time of submission of the request for participation, as required by the legislation in force are admitted to the contest.

The participants will compete for the grand prix - Golden Mercury, gold, silver and bronze medals.

The current edition of the contest includes a total of 13 nominations and 11 categories to which candidates can apply for the most honored distinctions offered for outstanding proven results:

1. Nomination according to consumer criteria: “CONSUMER APPRECIATION” and “LOCAL TRADEMARK”;

2. Nominations according to professionalism criteria: “THE DEBUT OF THE YEAR”; “EXPORT”; “INTER”; “SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE TRADEMARK”; “ACKNOWLEDGED TRADEMARK”; “REBRANDING”; “WOMAN IN BUSINESS”; “THE LEADER OF THE YEAR”, “IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT”, “FAVORITE SME OF THE YEAR” and the closed nomination “REPUTATION AND TRUST”.

In addition, the participants enrolled in the contest benefit from a set of facilities from the State Agency on Intellectual Property, namely: organization of seminars in the field of intellectual property for the employees of the participants in the contest; promotion of trademarks laureates of the contest in the AGEPI publications; free consultancy on registration of trademarks and intellectual property pre-diagnosis services.

“The trademark takes a priority position in a company’s business strategy, because it allows of identifying the economic agent’s product and distinguishing it from similar products of competing companies. Registration of the trademark with the State Intellectual Property Agency is the first step in building a successful brand. Only legal protection provides full rights in the trademark, the right to use it and the right to prohibit others from using it,” said the AGEPI Director General.

The contest “Trademark of the Year” was initiated in 2003 by the CCI of the RM and AGEPI and aims to promote successful business practices, familiarize consumers with the best trademarks on the domestic market, and to highlight the most competitive enterprises in the Republic of Moldova.

Sergiu Harea also said that the contest “Award for achievements in the field of quality of goods and services” is aimed at identifying companies that have successfully implemented quality management and promotes modern quality approaches and is at the 5th edition, being launched in 2014 by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova in partnership with the National Accreditation Center, National Institute of Metrology, National Institute of Standardization and Consumer Protection Agency.

The award is granted annually on a competitive basis to companies and organizations with various forms of ownership, legal/natural persons registered in the Republic of Moldova who produce material goods and/or provide services on the territory of the country to obtain significant results in the field of product and service quality, to ensure their safety as well as to implement quality management.

Micro and small enterprises with the number of employees up to 49 persons and annual turnover of up to 25 million lei; medium-sized enterprises with the number of employees between 49 and 249 persons and annual turnover of up to 50 million lei; large enterprises with the number of employees over 249 (except the enterprises in natural monopoly positions) and annual turnover exceeding 50 million lei and, of course, enterprises on natural monopoly positions and those declared dominant in the relevant markets, according to the legal provisions, can participate in the contest.

The participants will be awarded according to some criteria, such as achievement of high performance; increase in the value created for the consumer; management of strategic orientation-based activity, stimulation and responsibility; creation of partnerships; procedural management; getting success with the staff; promotion of creativity and innovation and, of course, responsibility for sustainable development. The grand prix of the contest is “The Goddess of Quality”.

The winners of the contests will be awarded on May 31, at the Moldovan Business Gala.

We should remind that 110 registered trademarks competed in the last year’s edition of the contest “Trademark of the Year” on the Moldovan market. Most requests for participation were submitted for the nominations “Favorite SME of the Year” and “Consumer Appreciation”. The 4th edition of the contest “Quality Achievements Award” was attended by 45 economic agents.

The requests for participation in the Contests and the files may be submitted by 1 April 2019 at the premises of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry: 151, Stefan cel Mare Str., 2nd floor, off. 9; tel./fax: 022 21-07-25, email: carolina.chiper@chamber.md, International Relations and Business Events Department.

Details of the contests, regulations and application forms can be found on the page https://chamber.md/.