EU, Moldova finalise joint programme on economic growth in rural areas

16:16 | 28.05.2015 Category: Economic

Chisinau, 28 May /MOLDPRES/ - The Economics Ministry informed about the completion of the European Union’s technical assistance project titled "Economic Stimulation in Rural Areas" (ESRA) at a press conference today. "This is a very successful project, with a budget of 3.6 million euros, which helped implement a comprehensive project of 68 million euros," said Deputy Economics Minister Valeriu Triboi.

The deputy minister noted that the benefits were obvious; throughout the four years of the project, "over 10,000 jobs were created, and more than 1,600 businesses received support. Eight incubators and the rural incubators network, which has over 150 rural residents, were opened."

"This was a truly European programme through its goals. I have seen businesses launched on money allocated by the European Union and I believe these are important steps for the development of Moldova, "said Head of EU Delegation in Moldova Pirkka Tapiola. The projects helped "to adopt more efficient economic policies and more transparent funding mechanisms."

The European official added that, through these projects, EU "genuinely contributed to development in rural areas". "The results are impressive. As many as 3,200 individual grants were given; there were programmes such as the programme on attracting remittances into the economy PARE 1 + 1, to help people return from abroad. A number of 1,600 businesses were created or funded between 2011 and 2015, "said Pirkka Tapiola.

"We hope to closely cooperate with Moldova on this path. There are also other programmes on hold, for example European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD). The tools exist, but we are talking about the government’s capacity to make use of these tools, "said the head of the EU delegation.

"If it were up to me, I would sign for continuing this project till the end of the century," said the leader of the Technical Assistance Economic Stimulation in Rural Areas (ESRA) project, Philip Santes. He highly appreciated the fact that the European funds had been fully assimilated.

In 2010-2015, the overall financial support granted by the European Union through the PSB ESRA programme amounts to 72 million euros.

(Reporter V. Bercu, Editor M. Jantovan)

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