The deadline for completing the National Development Plan (NDP) has been changed. According to a communiqué from the presidential press service, Minister of Economy and Trade Igor Dodon said that the National Development Strategy and the Plan of Action for implementing it will be drawn up by this yearend. The minister announced this at a meeting called by President Vladimir Voronin on September 18 to discuss the formulation of the NDP and the drafting of the state budget for next year. At a meeting summoned by Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev on September 13, Igor Dodon reported that the NDP was drafted on the basis of well-defined development priorities. The communiqué released by the Government’s press service on the same day says that the draft National Development Plan will be submitted to the Government for examination by October 15, 2007. The plan of action for implementing the NDP will be finalized and presented for approval concomitantly. At both meetings, the minister said that the NDP was drafted with the participation of specialists and representatives of the civil society, including national and foreign experts. In this connection, Vladimir Voronin stressed the opportunity of organizing a representative public forum to debate the final version of the document before it is presented to the Government and the Parliament for approval.