EU willing to grant Moldova 7 million euros for regional development programmes
The European Union is willing to give Moldova 7 million euros to carry out regional development pilot projects in 2012-2013.
In the context, Regional Development and Construction Minister Marcel Raducan met representatives of the European Commission of the General Department for Regional Policy (DG REGIO), the General Department for Development and Cooperation, the Service for Foreign Actions for Moldova, as well as representatives of the EU delegation to Moldova. The participants in the meeting discussed regional development pilot projects, carried out in line with the EU's cohesion policy and the financial support given to the Regional Development and Construction Ministry via the Twinning project.
Marcel Raducan thanked the European Commission representatives for their visit, stressing that it is a strong impetus to the efforts taken in the implementation of the action plan on regional development set forth by the EU.
For his part, a DG REGIO representative, Charles White, said that the visit aimed at assessing the fields in which the EU could offer support, as well as to mark out the main steps due to be undertaken by Moldova in the implementation of regional development pilot projects. The EU representatives are willing to back Moldova in this respect by holding seminars on the matter, paying fact-collecting visits, sharing their experience and the experience of other European countries in the regional development sector.
The representatives of the European Commission said that the Regional Development and Construction Ministry should establish the main levers for the implementation of the aforementioned projects, as well as the regions in which they will be implemented. The guests noted that Moldova will co-finance the programmes at 15-50 per cent.
At the end of the meeting, Marcel Raducan said that the launch of the dialogue on regional development pilot projects is a crucial moment for Moldova's European integration aspirations. The minister told the European Commission representatives that the Regional Development and Construction Ministry team is willing and capable to fulfill the assumed commitments.
The participants in the meeting concluded that the sides should adopt a practical approach and should determine the concrete directions in which the money is to be invested. This action should foster the cooperation with the EU in the next two years, the Regional Development and Construction Ministry's press service has said.
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