The foreign assistance for regional development and constructions for 2014 was discussed today at the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction (MRDC). Thus, the members of the external assistance coordinating council in the concerned area present at the meeting reviewed MRDC’s achievements in the second half of 2013 and listed the existing sectoral needs in the hope to identify new collaborative initiatives.
Marcel Răducan, Minister of Regional Development and Construction, has qualified the year 2013 as a productive one and noted that the meeting was an opportunity to plan activities for 2014. “Given the EU funds planned for 2014-2020, since 2014 – new programs and opportunities will open for the country in general, but also for regional development policy in particular. It is important to see the reflection of the collaboration between institutions in the quality of undertaken projects and the degree of satisfaction of beneficiaries – residents of development regions and the whole country,” the minister stated. The Minister also mentioned the effective cooperation during the past year of MRDC with similar institutions in Poland, Estonia, Latvia, with international bodies and organizations, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), SIDA, USAID, European Commission, the Development Bank of the Council of Europe (ECB), the Technical Assistance for sector budget support project – Economic Stimulation in Rural Areas (ESRA), the Twinning project, etc.
At the same time, Svetlana Rogov, the head of international relations and attracting of investments department detailed the successes obtained thanks to external assistance, mentioning the development partners, the funding sources for projects and activities conducted in collaboration with LPAs. Svetlana Rogov also appreciated the effective collaboration with development partners for regional development and cross-regional cooperation, updating of Regional Strategies, development of new bilateral cross-border cooperation programs and local public administration authorities capacity building.
During the meeting, the collaborative initiatives for 2014 were also discussed. In this context, the additional funding provided to “Modernization of Local Public Services Project” by the German Federal Government for continuing the activities in the current year was mentioned. The Local Authorities Information Center in Moldova will continue to support local authorities and NGOs in the country to promote the implementation of projects and external partnerships and attract prospective donors based on the signing of the Memorandum of Expanding the Activity with Poland. Another important cooperation to be strengthened this year through specific activities and projects is the co-funding of a joint project with USAID in Telenesti town. Also in 2014 cooperation will be launched for two projects funded by the International Cooperation Agency of the Czech Republic for South and North development regions.
The meeting participants concluded that the periodic meetings positively influenced the mutual activity and helped build a vision of consensus and expansion of collaboration. In this context, MRDC officials thanked their development partners for efficient collaboration and expressed their willingness to expand partnership with other donors.
