Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, H.E. Mrs Ulrike Knotz visited North Regional Development Agency (North RDA), located in Balti municipality, wanting to know better the North Development Region (NDR).
On this occasion, the German diplomat had a discussion with the President of the North Regional Development Council (North RDC), Ion Parea, and North RDA Director, Ion Bodrug about specific regional development projects undertaken in North Development Region (NDR) and about funding sources of projects. Also, Her Excellency asked about the decentralization reform, the implementation of which, says H.E. Mrs Ulrike Knotz, will ensure economic development, democracy and future of the population.
‘With the support of the German Government offered through German Development Cooperation through GIZ in our region are conducted three pilot projects in three areas: energy efficiency, water supply and sanitation and solid waste management. We also have technical assistance. For all this we are extremely grateful to the German people’, said the President of North RDC, Ion Parea, who also referred to the need for administrative-territorial reform in the context of decentralization policies’ implementation.
In turn, Director of North RDA, Ion Bodrug, said that, during the years 2011-2014, the financial support of the German government for development projects in NDR amount to over MDL 15.71 million. This financial support was provided through the project ‘Modernization of local public services (MLPS) in the Republic of Moldova’, managed by GIZ and financially supported by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania and the European Union. The MLPS project supports local public authorities in the expansion and modernization of local public services in various sectors: water supply and sanitation, solid waste management and energy efficiency of public buildings. The project also assists in regional planning and programming.
Referring to the cooperation between Moldova and Germany, Ion Bodrug said that North RDA is interested in establishing colaboration relations with development institutions in Germany. ‘We want to facilitate the creation of partnerships between local public authorities from our region and Germany. We also rely, in this respect, on the support of the German Embassy to Moldova’, said Director of North RDA.
‘I can assure you that Germany will support those reforms that will contribute to the development of the Republic of Moldova’, said H.E. Mrs Ulrike Knotz.
At the end of the meeting, the President of North RDC and the director of North RDA invited the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to a one-day visit to NDR, in order to visit the most important destinations, but also meet with local public authorities from the region .
H.E. Mrs Ulrike Knotz holds the title of Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Republic of Moldova since August 2014.
