Government of Moldova to establish inter-ministerial committee on diaspora, migration, development

Chisinau, 23 August /MOLDPRES/ – The Cabinet of Ministers approved the mechanism for the coordination of state policy in the field of Diaspora, migration and development, today, which stipulates in particular the creation of an inter-ministerial committee to coordinate the elaboration and implementation of state policies in this field.

The Committee will be responsible for formulating the strategic vision on Diaspora and migration in the medium and long term, validating development strategies and plans, ensuring implementation of the actions of the Government's national development programmes. The Committee is made up of one senior representative from ministries and central administrative authorities, and its chairman is the Secretary-General of the Government.

The new mechanism for coordinating the Diaspora policy was elaborated on the basis of a study, carried out with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), mission to Moldova. The main objective of the normative act, approved by the Government, is the implementation of the mechanism of integration of Diaspora and migration into development strategies and plans.

According to the data of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (MAEIE), there are over 805,000 Moldovans abroad now. The project's authors also state that that data refers to citizens of the Republic of Moldova who are abroad based on the national passport, "the total number being bigger and can not be estimated accurately, since most of the citizens who left live with ID cards of foreign countries". The latest IASCI/NEXUS research in the area shows that the main factors behind the departure are the lack of jobs and low wages.

At the central level, there is an approved mechanism in 2013, which is overstretched. Based upon the experience gained in 2013 – 2017, the Diaspora Relations Office (BRD) has developed the mechanism for coordinating state policy on Diaspora, migration and development at national, regional and local levels.

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor A. Raileanu)