The economic impact of Port of Giurgiulesti development on the Republic of Moldova

The quality and the cost of the transportation services have always been one of the main determinants of economic growth. This is especially applicable for the maritime transportation as it detains a large share of the global transported goods. The transport infrastructure and the quality of it are seen as one of the main determinants of the economic growth for a nation. The inadequacy or the transport infrastructure may lead to high cost encountered by the shippers, and this in turn may have a depressing effect for the economic development of a country by reducing the total trade. This is especially applicable for developing countries which are trying to strengthen their economic position. This paper will investigate the economic impact of the Port of Giurgiulesti on the economy of the Republic of Moldova. The country has ambitious economic development plans, and the Port of Giurgiulesti is one of the pillars supporting the model of a prosperous development. The port, being established only five years ago has a lot of operational issues. With the help of the Global Simulation Model, this paper investigates the effect of reducing the bottlenecks present in the Port of Giurgiulesti on the economy of the Republic of Moldova. In order to create an ample prospect several scenarios have been run. By this it was possible to construct a comprehensive framework which helped to determine the impact of the reduction in the level of the bottlenecks on the performance of the Port of Giurgiulesti, as well as assessing its contribution share to the state economy.