Construction of Center for Innovation and Technology Transfer in North Development Region started in Balti

Chisinau, 20 August /MOLDPRES/- The construction of the Center for Innovation and Technology Transfer in the Northern Development Region has started in Balti. Today, Prime Minister Ion Chicu participated in official launch of the construction works, together with US Ambassador Dereck J. Hogan, representatives of the Embassies of Sweden, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Minister of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment Ion Perju and others, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.

Chicu thanked all development partners for support in implementing the project. "It is a historic event not only for the northern part of the country, but for the whole country. I am sure that with the launch of this Center, the possibilities of the university education system to offer the labor market well-trained specialists will grow greatly," he said.

The institution will have a positive impact on over 4500 students of the University of Bălți Alecu Russo who will benefit from laboratories, 3D printing areas, robotics, microelectronics, etc. Also, the companies in IT, creativity and road in the region will create collaboration, research and technological development projects within the center. The centre aims at setting a favorable and innovative business environment in the region.

The centre will be built with the support of development partners in the US, Sweden and the UK. US Ambassador Dereck J. Hogan said that the project funders will contribute to the endowment of the institution with over 500 thousand dollars. Thus, CITT will be the most equipped of the series of centers of excellence in the industry such as: Tekwill, ArCor, Fablab, ZIPHouse and Future Class.

The total value of the project is about 37 million lei, of which 28.5 million lei were allocated from the National Fund for Regional Development, and over 9 million lei through the Moldova Competitiveness Project (USAID). Also, the National Council for Coordination of Regional Development has decided to earmark 16 million lei for the works to be executed by late 2020.