PARE 1+1 committee of Moldova approves another 27 applications for non-refundable financing

Chisinau, 28 December /MOLDPRES/ - The Supervision Committee of the pilot-programme on attracting remittances to the economy, PARE 1+1, for 2010-2018, which held a meeting today, approved another 27 applications worth 5.01 million lei for non-refundable financing, due to contribute to  attracting 15.68 million lei into the economy. In 2016, 200 enterprises benefited from non-refundable financing, the Economics Ministry’s press service has reported.  

According to the director general of the Organization for Small and Medium Enterprises Sector Development (ODIMM), Iulia Iabanji, out of all applications received, 13 businesses are created by migrant workers who returned from abroad and 14 enterprises were set up by migrants’ first-degree relatives. “In terms of the placement, the enterprises are located in 18 districts of the country, of which 15 per cent work in the Chisinau city and 85 per cent – in the rural regions,” Iabanji said.    

As much as 52 per cent of all demands of non-refundable financing have been started in agriculture; 22 per cent work in the services providing sector and 26 per cent – in the processing industry.   

Deputy Prime Minister, Economics Minister Octavian Calmic made a review of the PARE 1+1 Programme on Attraction of Remittances to Economy starting from 2010. He stressed that the programme was of increased interest among migrants and their relatives, proved also by the constant rise in the number of persons interested in returning home and investing remittances in creating and developing their own business. “So far, access to non-refundable financing worth 158.77 million lei has been facilitated to 900 enterprises, with the overall sum of the investments planned in the economy amounting to over 524 million lei,” the deputy prime minister stressed.      

Calmic also said the authorities would further back the migrants intending to invest  remittances into the national economy, given that in many cases, they are the entrepreneurs initiating and developing new ideas of business on the Moldovan market. “For instance, the enterprises from PARE 1+1 were among the first to develop business in the biomass sector, breeding chinchillas, cultivating medicinal plant of thistle and many others. Moreover, the programme’s beneficiaries were oriented towards activities bringing more value added to agricultural products by creation of greenhouses, fridges, mills, snail farms, agro-tourism, etc.,” the economics minister said.     

The PARE 1+1 Programme on Attraction of Remittances to Economy is meant for migrant workers and/or their first-degree relatives, willing to invest in the launch and/or development of their own business. The programme is carried out under the rule 1+1, which sees that each Moldovan leu invested from remittances is supplemented by one leu from PARE. The programme is implemented by the  Organization for Small and Medium Enterprises Sector Development, in coordination with the Economics Ministry.  

(Reporter A. Mardare, editor A. Raileanu)