The Rural Investment and Services Project (RISP) II has come to an end. During the second seven-year stage, there were started over 1,000 businesses and created more than 2,600 workplaces, IPN reports.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vasile Bumacov told a news confrerence that the project generated success stories in different areas of activity. “We wanted very much the universities and scientific research institutions of our country to intensify the consultancy and assistance process so as to support the rural businesses. They didn’t manage to ensure the necessary consultancy, but the RISP, having a more flexible team, enabled us to speak about a network of providers of consultancy services in the rural areas,” he stated.

Deputy head of the Embassy of Sweden Björn Kavalkov-Halvarsson said there were many challenges in the process of implementing the project, but Moldova managed to develop successful businesses. He added that the Embassy of Sweden will continue to support Moldova within the new World Bank project that is co-financed by the Government. The new Moldovan Agricultural Competitiveness Project (MAC-P) will be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and the Ministry of the Environment.

Björn Kavalkov-Halvarsson underlined that the new project aims to develop and strengthen the competitiveness of the country’s agrifood sector by supporting the process of modernizing the food safety management system. Within the project, farmers will be provided with about 40 investment grants. The US$37.4 million project will be implemented during five years.

The budget of the RISP was about US$42 million and included the Government’s contribution. The project was implemented by the Consolidated Unit for Implementation and Monitoring of Projects in Agriculture (UCIMPA), being co-financed by the World Bank.