Specialists from north Moldova study rural entrepreneurial practices in Estonia

Chisinau, 8 September /MOLDPRES/ - A delegation of the North Development Region has recently participated in a study visit to the Tartu city, Estonia, where it exchanged experience and good practices in the sector of business in rural regions.    

The agenda of the trip to Estonia by specialists from north Moldova included a visit to the Estonian University of Life Sciences (UESM). At the university, the Moldovan specialists took knowledge of the institution’s general activities, organizational structure, number of international students, including from Moldova, projects recently completed and the ones underway. In the context, a representative of the Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment Ministry, Silvia Dragomir, presented the sectoral regional programme in the field of support infrastructure in business, thus describing actions in the entrepreneurial sector of Moldova.  

At the same time, the Moldovan delegation visited also the Polli Horticultural Research Centre, which belongs to UESM. The Centre provides services of research and development of product for entrepreneurs and is endowed with advanced equipment for studying the biochemical structure of products at small scale. It is worth being noted that UESM is one of the most important 100 universities of the world in the agriculture and forestry sector, ranking 51st.   

The delegation of Moldova also visited two farms which provide diverse dairy products: Viinamärdi (various sorts of cheese, pressed cheese of sheep and cow’s milk) and the organic farm Pajumäe (different dairy products of cow’s milk). All elements of the value chain are recorded at the two enterprises: from production of milk to processing, with the entrepreneurs being fully in charge of the finished product’s quality. Estonian entrepreneurs said that the advantage of the small producers consisted in a short time for developing a single product and testing it and the difference between the two farms is the assortment of products provided.  

Also, the members of Moldova’s delegation visited a company of plants and teas, Süvahavva, where they familiarized with the innovations in the field of producing fruits and berries, at the Horticulture School from Räpina and AranFarming. While the Süvahavva company is a traditional one, the Horticulture School from Räpina and AranFarming successfully implement innovation ways, such as lyophilization and sublimation of fruits and berries, used for their more efficient preservation (by maintaining about 90-95 per cent of vitamins). Given that the Moldovan delegation included producers of fruits and berries, as well as representatives of institutions which provide support to entrepreneurs from the region, this exchange of experience is necessary for developing business in the North Development Region.        

„Presently, the development of a new product is practically impossible without an approach through the light of the technological achievements and innovation ways of growing and processing raw material. In this respect, the exchange of experience with entrepreneurs from abroad, who already use the new technologies, motivate business people from our region to permanently look for ideas and sources to diversify the products offered,’’ sources of the North Regional Development Agency have said, quoted by MOLDPRES.  

The study visit to Estonia was organized by the Estonian University of Life Sciences, in partnership with the North Regional Development Agency, within the project, Cycle of textbooks for Moldovan entrepreneurs and young people of the rural area. Textbook 3 – Product development and marketing.