The Republic of Moldova is the main beneficiary of development assistance offered by Romania, shows a report for last year published by the Romanian Foreign Ministry, IPN reports, quoting a communiqué from the Romanian Embassy in Moldova.
According to the report, more than 50% of the funds of the Ministry of National Education of Romania, or about €13 million, were intended as development assistance for Moldova. From its specific budget for development assistance, the Romanian Foreign Ministry financed projects to the value of over €800,000 in Moldova, by which the institutional reformation experience of Romania was used both at governmental level and at civil society level.
Romania also offered financial assistance to the National Bureau of Statistics for providing the Moldovan authorities with regional statistics. The Romanian Foreign Ministry, in cooperation with USAID, co-financed a project to increase the capacity of the Moldovan administration and to develop partnerships with Romania in five key areas – energy, economic investments, competition and market economy, justice reform, and regional development.
As regards the strengthening of civil society, Romania sponsored the organization of two NGO forums – a regional one intended for players from the extended area of the Black Sea and one devoted for civil society from Moldova for building confidence between Chisinau and Tiraspol, co-financed by the Council of Europe.
In agriculture and sustainable economic development, the Government of Romania financed the equipment of a Chisinau laboratory for detecting pesticides in plants, soil and products of vegetal origin. The project was implemented by the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority of Romania and the Ministry of Agriculture ad Food Industry of Moldova.
In education, the Foreign Ministry is financing the program of doctoral scholarships “Eugene Ionescu”, which is implemented in partnership with the Francophone University Agency. In 2012, by this program there were offered scholarships to the value of €380,000 for persons studying for their doctorate and researchers from Moldova, Georgia, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, the Ivory Coast, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Cameroon.
