Japan will continue to provide support to Moldova in the process of modernizing the health and education systems, agriculture and industry. It will also support Moldova’s European integration efforts. Such commitments, made by Japanese officials, were confirmed by Moldova’s Ambassador in Tokyo Vasile Bumacov in an interview for IPN.
“The loan of US$60 million provided by Japan for outfitting medical institutions with modern equipment continues to be put to good use. There are also projects to support education institutions and small and medium-sized enterprises, to produce electric power from renewable sources of energy and others,” stated the diplomat.
This June, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) delegated a mission to Moldova with the aim of identifying the areas that are eligible for future cooperation. As a result, the following areas were selected for financing projects: small and medium-sized enterprises, health, and agriculture, which are considered to have greater development potential and capacities to efficiently use the funds.
Vasile Bumacov noted that Japan is ready to offer us preferential loans for development, in the best conditions, especially for renovating water treatment stations. Regrettably, we didn’t identify national institutions interested in this area, even if we throw thousands of tonnes of dirt and residue water into the Nistru River.
According to the ambassador, the presence of Japanese companies can serve as a barometer of the investment climate. “At the next project implementation stage, we will have to pay greater attention to the involvement of Japanese small and medium-sized companies in projects. As a result, Japanese specialists will be able to assess our country’s real potential to assimilate investments and to encourage the launch of profitable businesses in the Republic of Moldova,” he stated.
Vasile Bumacov considers the launch of businesses in industry, production of modern equipment and technology would be a great success for us, especially because we had a similar experience in the past. I would underline the importance of producing equipment and technology for the food industry and agriculture, which are now massively imported, and the improvement of the product packing and sorting capacities of the Moldovan companies so as to conquer new markets, even the Japanese one.
The diplomat said there are many opportunities, but it is important to ensure a positive investment climate and to find reliable partners.
