The National Library has officially opened the National Digitization Center that was set up based on the Digital Collections Unit. The Center was equipped thanks to a project supported by the Government of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), IPN reports.

In the inaugural event, National Library director Elena Pintilei expressed her gratitude to the people of Japan who supported the project to improve the digitization equipment of the National Library. By the National Digitization Center, the Library assumes an imported role in digitizing the cultural heritage, contributing to the creation of the digital cultural identity of the Republic of Moldova. During the next five years, they aim to digitize all the processes.

Japan’s Ambassador to Moldova Yoshihiro Katayama said that during the first years of Moldova’s independence, the Government of Japan has offered development assistance to the country. In 1993, it provided medicines and sanitary products to the value of over US$2 million. A number of projects were later financed in healthcare, agriculture and social infrastructure. At the end of June 2020, there was signed an official document of the project that generated today’s event. The logistic preparations started and the engineers began to select the equipment for the Center.

The ambassador expressed his conviction that the new Center that starts work on the National Day of Japan will offer the heritage and cultural resources wanted by teachers, researches, young people and children, while the beneficiaries of resources will build the future of the Republic of Moldova.

Minister of Culture Sergiu Prodan said the task of generations is to preserve the cultural heritage. “Our duty is to use this equipment to digitize the collections so that the researches in time have access to information and realize how we lived and what the reality in our epoch was,” stated the official.

Deputy Prime Minister for Digitization Iurie Țurcanu said it is absolutely important for the publications of the National Library to be digitized so that they are moved to virtual eternity and everyone has access to them.

Diana Silvestru, the head of the National Digitization Center, said that this is the largest project of the National Library. The first steps to create the digital library were taken in 2010 and since then eight collections have been digitized. Over 800,000 pages can be consulted online by the general project.

Also today, the National Library mounted an exhibition of publications of the Library’s collections that represent the Japanese history, culture and civilization and an important part of albums that present Japanese cities as strategic places for tourists. There was also staged an exhibition of flower arrangements in Japanese style, in partnership with “Ikenobo” Japanese Culture and Art Center.