Ghenadie Ivașcenco, an expert in regional and local development, notes that “last week, Orhei held local elections. And, as usual, almost any information about Orhei quickly becomes controversial. But amid all this noise, we risk overlooking something important: Orhei is one of the most interesting case studies of local economic development in Moldova. Not because of politics — but because of economics”. He refers specifically to the factory opened by SE Bordnetze SRL – SEBN MD.

According to him, “Orhei is a clear example of how a strategic investor can transform the destiny of a provincial town. We are talking about a major Japanese investor (SE Bordnetze SRL), a producer of automotive wiring systems, which in 2018 opened a factory in Orhei (in the Orhei sub‑zone of the Bălți Free Economic Zone). Today, this factory means around 3,500 jobs and roughly 2.5 billion lei in annual turnover. For a town of 22,000 inhabitants, this is not just a factory — it is an economic ‘super‑engine’ that attracts employees daily from up to 50 km away, including from the Transnistrian region (e.g., Rîbnița, Dubăsari).”

Seven years after the factory became operational, the impact is already measurable — and, according to the expert, “the assessment is clearly extraordinary.”

He highlights that the impact is not only direct — thousands of jobs, hundreds of millions of lei in annual salaries, and millions in local budget revenues — but also indirect, through the multiplier effect on the local economy: consumption, services, trade, transport, rentals, and other activities.

“Even under the most conservative estimates, this effect means at least 350–400 million lei annually for Orhei’s local economy.”

Visible results for Orhei:

• +35% increase in the number of employees (2019–2024)
• +25% real economic growth (adjusted for inflation) in 2019–2024, despite declines in other local sectors
• +15% population growth after the investor’s arrival

Ivașcenco notes that “Orhei has started to grow, while other regional towns (Soroca, Comrat, Cahul, Ungheni, Edineț) have followed very different trajectories. In fact, Orhei has become the only locality outside the Chișinău metropolitan area where the 2024 census shows a larger population than in 2014. The difference is significant and is explained largely by the presence of this strategic investor.”

“Regional towns cannot be revived solely through small infrastructure projects, renovated sidewalks, and speeches about development. These are necessary, but not sufficient. Moldova’s towns need strategic investors — large, productive, export‑oriented, integrated into international value chains, capable of creating thousands of jobs and transforming local economies. Sometimes a single large‑scale investor can make the difference between a town that loses people and a town that begins to grow. Attracting such investors must become the No. 1 strategic priority for regional development in Moldova. It is not easy, but it is certainly not impossible.”

SEBN MD was founded in Moldova in December 2015. The company started from scratch and gradually became a top employer in the country’s automotive industry. It is known for high‑quality products and innovative solutions for the automotive sector. The company initially launched operations in a temporary location in Orhei. In 2017, production moved to a newly built 28,000 m² facility equipped with modern machinery and technologies. SEBN MD expanded further in 2021 by opening another site in Strășeni, covering nearly 6,000 m².