ICT Sector in Moldova

7%

Unique Tax on turnover in IT virtual Parks

12%

Corporate Income Tax (CIT)

643 €

Average Monthly Wage (Gross)

3,300

IT companies

$512 M

ICT exports 2022

32,600

ICT workforce

1,000,000

Job creation incentive (ATU Gagauzia)

12

Co-working spaces

4,420

IT students

2,700 €/month

Average Software Developer salary (2023)

6

Innovation Hubs

IT Services Market in Moldova
Overview and Structure

Local IT companies provide services like IT consulting, implementation, customer support, operations management and cloud services.

ICT in Moldova
Development Perspectives

Moldova's ICT industry has demonstrated remarkable growth over the past decade, fuelled by high market demand, competitive dynamics, and consolidated efforts. This sector is a significant contributor to the national economy, generating approximately 6% of Moldova's GDP, which translates to revenues nearing MDL 21.8 billion or USD 1,154 million annually.

The year 2017 marked a significant phase for Moldova's electronic communications market, characterized by agile competition and robust growth. This period positioned the country among top global destinations for high-speed Internet, with widespread availability of Gigabit Internet, enhancing accessibility and connectivity.

ICT Sector in Moldova & Development Perspectives

From 2015 to 2022, the IT sector emerged as the driving force behind the growth of Moldova's ICT industry, achieving a fourfold increase and surpassing telecom sector advancements. This remarkable growth was largely attributed to a focused policy and legislative framework tailored to the Information Technology and Digital Industries, catalyzing its dynamic and exceptional evolution.

2022 also saw the export volume of ICT products and services surpass $512 million. The ICT sector underwent a significant transformation, shifting from primarily offering Internet access networks and services to focusing on high-value, export-oriented IT products and services.

Between 2017 and 2022, the IT industry witnessed a substantial rise in annual sales revenue, climbing from $212 million to over $677 million. This represents a 6% contribution to the related GDP, with an impressive increase of approximately $175 million in 2022 alone. In this reference year, combined with the sales volume in the electronic communications industry, the ICT sector accounted for 8% of the national GDP.

Over the past decade, Moldova has achieved a tenfold increase in IT exports, leveraging its strategic position as a subcontracting hub. This success is attributed to the nation's cost-effectiveness, skilled workforce, and advantageous geographic location, making it a preferred destination for outsourcing IT services and thus propelling substantial industry growth.

Despite the economic challenges faced in 2022, the IT industry continued its upward trajectory, contributing to the mitigation of the broader economic downturn. The incentives provided by IT Park legislation played a pivotal role in this resilience, significantly bolstering the development of the ICT sector.

Evolution of ICT Sector Employees

The positive evolution in the ICT sector is accompanied by the increase in the number of companies in this period - from 2,200 to 3,300, and of the employed staff - from 23,350 people to 32,600 people, ensuring the best level of salary in the economy.

ICT Sector Exports Evolution (M USD)

As per estimates, the IT industry employs over 23,400 professionals, servicing mainly European and U.S. markets. The service focus is across multiple industries, especially in Government, banking, fintech, automotive, healthcare, and telecom, while including platform technologies such as big data, cloud and Internet of Things (IoT).

Education

The Information and Communications sector in Moldova is primarily in a build-out phase, with major investments focused on basic hardware infrastructure, such as server, storage, infrastructure software, and network equipment implementations.

Moldova's ICT sector stands as a cornerstone in building a regionally and globally competitive economy. Its progress in international ICT rankings demonstrates Moldova's commitment to technological prowess, fostering innovation, attracting foreign investment and securing a prominent position on the global stage.

As the ICT industry develops further every year, education has a significant role in cultivating specialists. Top universities are successfully partnering with local and foreign companies, to be able to provide innovative technologies to students, internships, employment opportunities, etc.

There are now over 200 schools throughout the country that teach children robotics courses, as part of a nationwide effort led by the Government for increasing digital literacy. Other courses cover virtual reality, 3D printing, entrepreneurship skills, animation, game design, digital media production, etc.

In Moldova's ICT sector, companies embrace:

Intelligent Process Automation (IPA)

Robotic Process Automation

Machine Learning

Virtual Assistant

Natural Language Programming

Video/Picture Recognition

These innovations underscore the company's commitment to automation and innovation that is reshaping operational and paving the way for future success.

Read the whole research about ICT Sector in Moldova

Discover more pages of comprehensive analysis about the ICT sector in Moldova.

Moldova Innovation
Technology Park (MITP)

Moldova Innovation Technology Park (MITP), Europe’s first e-Park, catalyzes innovation and growth in the IT, R&D, and Engineering sectors through strategic incentives.

Unique Taxation

MITP residents benefit from a flat tax rate of 7% on turnover, which encompasses and simplifies multiple tax categories, including corporate income, personal income, social security, medical insurance, local, real estate, and road taxes.

IT Visa

The MITP framework facilitates a simplified visa process for IT specialists and managers, granting up to four years of residency with options for extension, encouraging the attraction of top global talent to Moldova’s tech sector.

Ease of Business

The Virtuality provision allows MITP residents to operate throughout Moldova without a mandatory physical presence within the park premises, granting operational flexibility and reducing overhead costs.

Simplified Processes

Compliance with tax obligations is simplified to a monthly declaration of income, with no need to aggregate data over the year. An annual audit by a Moldovan-accredited firm ensures compliance, while minimizing the administrative burden on companies.

Extended Guarantees

MITP offers a statebacked guarantee on the tax and legal regime, securing the preferential treatment outlined upon activity inception. The government’s approval of extending MITP’s operational term from 10 to 20 years, effective until 2037, alongside the extension of the state guarantee until 2035, ensures longterm stability and growth potential for the sector.

MITP in numbers

6% GDP share

*of Moldova IT sector

552M EUR

Forecasted revenue for 2023

11% country’s export

*of Moldova IT sector

1,700+

Active residents

1,200+

Newly created companies

20,700+

Employees

230+

Companies with
foreign capital

39

Countries

At the same time, the Law on IT Parks and the Tax Code stipulate the minimum amount of the single tax to be paid by Park’s residents, which is: 30% of the average monthly salary in the economy, forecasted for the year of the tax period of the tax concerned per employee (who worked during the tax period for at least one day on the basis of an individual employment contract).

The status of the MITP resident may be obtained by any legal or natural person who is registered in the Republic of Moldova as subject of the entrepreneurial activity and who carries out or intends to carry out as main business activity one or more types of business activities indicated in Article 8 of IT Park’s Law. The main business activity should be the one that generates 70% or more of the revenue from sales.

What activities are eligible for IT Park residents?

Custom software development, specifically client-oriented software (62.01)*

Editing activities related to other software products (58.29)*

Other research and experimental development on natural sciences and engineering (72.19)*

Other educational activities with a focus on computer training (85.59)*

Editing of computer games (58.21)*

Other information technology service activities (62.09)*

Manufacturing of electronic components restricted to microprocessors and integrated circuits. (26.11)*

Other labor supply services (78.30)*, provided exclusively for international markets

Call center operations (82.20)*, with a focus on export-oriented services

Management activities (management and operation) of computing means (62.03)*

Data processing, web page management and related activities (63.11)*

Specialised design activities that employ high-performance computers (74.10)*

Research and experimental development on biotechnology (72.11)*

Web portal activities (63.12)*

IT consulting services (62.02)*

Motion picture, video and television programme post-production activities (59.12)*, exclusively for the computer games industry, limited to the following services:

digital color correction and rewrapping services (59.12.13);
sound editing and design services (59.12.17);
sound recording and music publishing activities (59.20)*, exclusively for the computer game industry, limited to original sound recordings (59.20.13);

Post - production stage of production of movies, video and television programs (52.12)*,based on the use of high – quality specialized computer equipment, limited to:

services for creating video effects (59.12.14);
services in the field of animation (59.12.15);

*According to the Classification of Activities in the Moldovan Economy (CAEM Rev 2 and CSPM 2)