Folk craftsmen from southern Moldova, Romania learned entrepreneurial skills in handicraft

Chisinau, 25 June /MOLDPRES/- A group of folk craftsmen from the Southern Development Region of the Republic of Moldova and the counties of Vaslui and Galati, Romania, together with the team of a cross-border project for revival of folk crafts, recently met for a training session and exchange of experiences. It is the first event of this kind in the project, hosted by partners in our country.

"The revival of authentic folk crafts - common cultural heritage as a focal point for sustainable economic and tourism development" is a project, implemented by the South Regional Development Agency of the Republic of Moldova, as Leading Beneficiary, in partnership with the Association ART - Prut Crafts from Iași, Romania, as a partner beneficiary.

The project aims at improving the tourism potential of the cross-border area of ​​the Southern Region with a new economic activity related to traditional crafts. They are seen as a way to increase income from tourism activities and to preserve the genetic code of the national identity of communities on both sides of the Prut River, which have inherited the common cultural heritage as a result of historical evolution.

During the session, the students learned from Amalia Georgescu how to transform their craft from passion into a business, which are the factors underlying business success, legal forms of organization, development of a business plan, personal assessment of entrepreneurial skills and many other mysteries of business success. The session also discussed the need to associate folk craftsmen to promote craft products at different levels.

“I waited a long time for the physical meeting of the target group and the implementation team for the first quick training. “It was a very good interactive work atmosphere, the mutual knowledge and the exchange of ideas show how necessary such a meeting is. The unity of language and traditions, similarities and differences in the existence of traditional crafts made this meeting very instructive and interesting. The organization at high standards is the result of the effort of the project team from the Republic of Moldova, to which we bring warm thanks ", said Silvia Cozmîncă, president of the Association in Romania.

The second session will be held in Iasi and will focus on marketing skills on product authenticity and quality, price-quality ratio, the balance between authenticity and evolving consumer demand, promoting cultural heritage through handicrafts and preserving local traditions, especially for tourism purposes.

photo: ADR Sud