International Fund for Agricultural Development to further finance agricultural projects in Moldova

Chisinau, 19 April /MOLDPRES/- Prime Minister Pavel Filip today had a meeting with a delegation of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), led by Country Programme Manager for Moldova Dina Saleh, the government’s communication and media relations department has reported.

The prime minister appreciated IFAD’s openness and interest in Moldova and thanked for the valuable financial assistance offered to the country. “Agriculture is an important branch, which must ensure the state's food security. We appreciate the contribution of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, particularly to developing new technologies in agriculture and supporting young entrepreneurs”, he said.

The sides approached a new common project, Rural Resilience Project (PRR), due to be implemented in two stages in 2017-2020. In the first stage, the assistance will amount to 24 million dollars and will be directed to improving the capacity of small agricultural enterprises's adaptation to climate changes, with emphasis on business development by modernizing and extending the access to financing and sales markets.

IFAD representatives noted that Moldova was a partner which efficiently used the assistance offered by the Fund, as well as contributed with its own resources to carrying out common projects. At the same time, the officials tackled a string of important problems in terms of functionality, faced in implementing the projects in Moldova. The prime minister assured that the government would take needed actions to find solutions to aforementioned problems.

Since 2000, when IFAD Representation was opened in Moldova the country has benefited from funding worth over 100 million dollars for diverse projects in agriculture.

(Editor M. Jantovan)