The Institute for Development and Expertise of Projects (IDEP) and the Euronest Intercommunity Development Association staged a high-level conference in Chisinau on August 31. The event centered on the stimulation of the absorption of European funds by the Republic of Moldova, which was granted the EU candidate status. The goal of the conference was to promote crossborder partnerships and to present examples of good practices between two states, Romania and the Republic of Moldova, in different areas of interest.

In a news conference hosted by IPN, Iurie Calestru, IDEP programs director, said that among the areas of interest are administration, education, health, the mass media, airports (Iasi, Chisinau, Bacău), food safety (Bucharest and Chisinau), environmental protection (Iasi, Vaslui, Chisinau), the business environment. The final goal of such events is to stimulate the absorption of European funds.

The event of August 31 brought together 170 representatives of managerial teams from Moldova and counterparts from Romania. It involved the administration of three Moldovan districts, three Romanian municipalities, about 30 mayor’s offices from both sides of the Prut and 20 national and regional hospitals as well as representatives of seven universities from the two banks of the Prut, managers of three airports and of the environmental protection agencies of Iasi and Vaslui and representatives of the Sports Training Center for National Squads.

“As a result, there were established interhuman partnerships that are to be transformed into interinstitutional partnerships. This will ensure the framework needed for sustainable partnerships and for the formation of joint Moldovan-Romanian project teams. The first part of the event consisted of focused discussions so that the partners are better prepared to file projects in concert and, implicitly, to attract European funds,” stated Iurie Calestru.

The discussions were followed by a series of working visits to “Nicolae Testemiţanu” State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, the Municipal Clinical Hospital “Saint Trinity” and the Sports Training Center for National Squads. “Within these working visits, the partners from Romania and those from the Republic of Moldova could see the projects implemented earlier, especially with European funds, the needs and particular opportunities that could serve as an impetus to launch interinstitutional partnerships,” said Iurie Calestru.

According to him, identifying solutions to absorb the European funds that became available to the Republic of Moldova together with the granting of the EU candidate status is one of the priority directions in the work of IDEP Moldova so as to bring the two banks of the Prut closer and to establish partnerships for projects in joint Moldovan-Romanian teams.

The news conference was held within the framework of the project “Double Integration through Cooperation and Information” which is implemented by IPN News Agency with financing from the Department for the Relationship with the Republic of Moldova of the Government of Romania. The content of this news item does not represent the official position of the Department for the Relationship with the Republic of Moldova.