Chisinau is the capital of the Republic of Moldova, an urban center with important economic, social and cultural potential. Located in the central part of the country, the city is crossed by the Bîc River with its tributaries Durlești and Bulbocica. The surface area of the city is 120.1 square km. The municipality includes five districts – Botanica, Buiucani, Centre, Ciocana, Riscani, six towns – Codru, Cricova, Durlești, Sîngera, Vadul lui Voda, Vatra and 28 rural localities.

Chisinau is the largest and most developed economic center of the Republic, with a considerable share in the national economy. At present, more than 55 000 economic agents are registered in the municipality. The municipality accounts for more than 45% of the republic’s GDP and more than 60% of total taxes and duties collected to the consolidated budget. According to the gross regional product calculated per capita, the level of the municipality is twice as high as the average for the republic.

The industrial sector of the municipality of Chisinau has more than 1800 enterprises. About 400 enterprises represent the food industry, 180 enterprises – light industry, 380 enterprises – machine-building and metal processing industry, 126 enterprises – chemical industry, etc.

The industrial sector of the municipality accounts for more than 65% of the total volume of manufacturing industry in the country, including food industry – 33.7%, manufacture of tobacco products – 88.1%, textile industry – 62.7%, manufacture of wearing apparel – 50.8%, leather processing, manufacture of footwear – 94.6%, wood industry – 67.1%, chemical industry – 91.6%, manufacture of furniture – 98%, machine building industry – 84.6%, manufacture of articles of non-metallic minerals – 74.2%.

The industrial complex of the city consists of 19 industrial formations (with an area of 2800.7 ha), in which more than a thousand enterprises are located in various fields of economic activity (production, transport, energy and municipal spheres). Most of the industrial enterprises are located in the north-eastern part of Chisinau municipality. On the territory of the municipality there are more than 1,300 commercial units with a commercial area of 121,000 thousand square meters. The catering sector includes 705 commercial establishments with 47 100 seats. On the territory of the municipality there are 38 agricultural markets with an area of 70.1 ha and 13 416 places of trade.