Civil society and private sector are important players in promoting development

The development assistance cannot be efficient if two important players are not involved – civil society and the private sector, executive director of the Public Policy Institute Arcadie Barbarosie told a news conference held to launch a project. The project “Civil society and the private sector – contributions to implementing the Millennium Development Goals” is aimed at increasing the capacities of the civil society organizations and representatives of the private sector, which are described as development actors in the 2008 Accra Agenda for Action and the 2011 Bussan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation. According to Arcadie Barbarosie, the responsibility for adopting the programs designed to accelerate the country’s development is borne by the state institutions. But the inclusion of different groups of society in these activities, through the agency of the NGOs and the private sector, will not only move the national priorities up, but will also create preconditions for successfully implementing the democratic governance principles in Moldova. The Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Dirk Schuebel said it was one of the first common projects launched by the EU Delegation and Bulgaria in Moldova and it forms part of a non-state program. He added that this project is very important as civil society is a key partner in the neighborhood partnership of Moldova, while the Millennium Development Goals will be the guiding principles in the project. Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Moldova George Panayotov said that Bulgaria is honored to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Moldova, while the launched project will represent a step towards improving the relations between Bulgaria and Moldova. He expressed his confidence that civil society and the private sector will contribute to economic growth and to reducing poverty in the country. The €145,000 project “Civil society and the private sector – contributions to implementing the Millennium Development Goals” is financed by the European Commission. It will be implemented by the Center for Economic Development of Bulgaria in partnership with the Public Policy Institute and the Independent Analytical Center “Expert-Grup” of Moldova.