Deputy mayor of Chisinau Nistor Grozavu, alongside the administration of the General Public Transport and Communications Division, the Electric Transport Company and the Urban Bus Company on June 25 received a delegation from Japan in the context of the bilateral cooperation in environmental protection, IPN reports.

According to the Chisinau City Hall, the experts of the National Institute for Environmental Studies of Japan, Dr. Yishinori Kondo and Dr. Yasuki Shirakawa, will be visiting Moldova during June 24-27 to estimate the country’s needs related to the promotion of efficient transport with a view to diminishing emissions and their impact on climate and the environment.

As to the problems and needs for remedying the situation in the transport sector, Nistor Grozavu said the insufficiently of funds for implementing policies and the political will of the members of the Chisinau Mancala Council are the biggest problems.

Dr. Yishinori Kondo said the air in Japan is very clean due to the reduction of emissions following the policies pursued by the Japanese government. The quality of air is assessed by about 1,000 monitoring stations. A series of normative documents adapted after the 1960s are used to monitor and regulate the air quality indicators. Among the measures taken by Japan in the field are the technical inspection of vehicles and checking of the quality of fuels, fiscal instruments, promotion of ecological transport by increasing the number of hybrid or electric cars, encouragement of the population to use fuel-efficient cars, etc.

As a result of the working visit to Moldova, the delegation from Japan will formulate the country’s necessities for promoting efficient transport and will remit them to the national authorities for examination and finalization.

The final proposal will be presented to the Government of Japan for financing. A common research study could be first carried out to identify the opportunities of technological and/or financial transfer.