Potential beneficiaries of projects that can receive financing through the Interreg NEXT Romania-Republic of Moldova Program for 2021-2027 took part in a forum centering on the program. The participants could find out information about the new program and to establish partnerships for project proposals and identify suitable partners to discuss project ideas, IPN reports.

According to the conditions of the program, a project can involve at most four partners, at least one of which is registered in Romania (Iași, Vaslui, Botoșani, Galați) and at least one of which is registered in Moldova. The partners must be public or nonprofit organizations and one of the organizations acts as a leading partner.

Doctor habitat Rodica Sturza, lecture of the Moldova Technical University, which is the leading beneficiary in a project to intelligently valorize agrifood industrial waste, said that a website of the project was launched and an opinion poll covering over 250 primary fruit and vegetable processing companies was conducted to determine the population’s interest in the intelligent valorization of agrifood industrial waste. As a result of research, they worked out guidelines of good practices on the complex use of marc, apple waste and other agro-industrial waste.

Ana Sochircă, head of the entrepreneurial training section of the Organization for Entrepreneurship Development, implemented an entrepreneurial education project to invest in human capital, namely to develop the entrepreneurial capacities of young people, together with partners from Iasi and Moldova. Together they developed educational projects, identified the necessities of students, staged training seminars with business trainers. The students developed projects in the field of fashion.

Approved on November 30, 2022 by the European Commission, the Interreg NEXT Romania-Republic of Moldova Program for 2021-2027 has a budget of €77.3 million, plus the co-financing of participating states. The money can be used to bring benefits to communities on both sides of the border in such areas as healthcare, education and biodiversity conservation based on the following priorities: green communities, social transboundary development, and crossborder cooperation.