102 | THE SECOND MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS REPORT
TARGET 2. Deal with issues associated with Moldova's landlocked status by upgrading transportation and customs infrastructure.
The problems related to the country’s landlocked status were partially solved with the opening of the Giurgiulesti port in 2009. However if Moldova wants to increase foreign trade substantially this may not be enough. Despite gaining access to a very small portion of the Danube shore, the Republic of Moldova still remains a landlocked country with few opportunities for international trade expansion, but with a large number of behind-the-border barriers to trade. The share of investment in the transportation sector in total public investment rose from 13.7 percent in 2000 to 17.6 percent in 2008 (see Chart 21). At the same time, the percentage of investment
in the development of air and naval transportation dropped from 76.3 percent of total investment in transportation in 2000 to 23.7 percent in 2008. This level of public investment is not enough to attain the targets under the MDG and does not create an opportunity to improve road infrastructure and enhance road traffic, especially after the drastic reduction in public investment in 2009. At the same time, the Government will have the support of the country’s development partners in its efforts to build and rehabilitate roads, in particular the assistance of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which offered Moldova a non-reimbursable credit of US$262 million, half of which will be allocated to road rehabilitation. Additionally, in 2008 the EBRD offered a loan of EUR25.5 million in support of the air transportation sector, specifically for the modernization of Chisinau International Airport; a project aimed at improving runways and connection paths, enlarge the passenger terminal, install special equipment, etc. The European Investment Bank contributed to the project with a loan of EUR20 million. The offered assistance could help Moldova make better use of its geographical location and could accelerate the attainment of the relevant MDG. GOAL 8: Create a global partnership for development
The tasks undertaken by the Government in achieving this target are the following: (i) upgrade the traffic capacity of international roads to 10,000 road vehicles per day; (ii) increase the share of investment in the transportation sector to 20 percent of total public investment; (iii) increase the share of investment in the development of the air and naval transportation to 35 percent of total investment in transport; (iii) upgrade the processing capacity of each customs checkpoint to an average of 1,000 road vehicles per day.