The Transnistrian region will be one of the World Bank’s priorities in the next Strategy for Moldova for 2008-2011 and such an objective will be the first of the kind, the WB Country Manager for Moldova Melanie Marlett said on December 20 during the “Morning Coffee” – a new initiative of the WB Country Office for a less formal dialogue with the journalists. The WB official said that the next strategy of the Bank will centre on a partnership with Moldova and will build on the priorities of the National Development Plan (NDP). Transnistria will be one of the priorities of this document. Melanie Marlett said that the discussions with the Government and other donors on the strategy’s components started last week. The NDP contains very many activities and the World Bank wants to identify those of major importance towards which to direct foreign financial assistance in cooperation with the donors so that the available funds are used efficiently. Speaking about Transnistria, Melanie Marlett said that the World Bank does not know yet what activities it will carry out in the region, but intends to open discussions on this topic with the authorities. Migration and remittances from abroad will be another objective of the WB. “Moldova takes the second position in the world by the size of remittances per capita and we want to focus on the young people’s role in migration and to cooperate with the International Organisation for Migration,” the cited source said. Among other WB objectives for Moldova are the support of youth, the assistance in overcoming the consequences of the drought that can affect Moldova the next years too, the improvement of governance and combating of corruption. The present Country Assistance Strategy for 2004-2008 is expiring and the preliminary assessments show positive results, Marlett said. She also said that she came to Moldova this June and she got a good impression about the country and the people. Moldova experienced drought, rises in gas prices, the ban on wine imports. However, the economy continues to develop and the GDP growth will probably reach 6% at this yearend. We are concerned about the impact of the drought on Moldova’s population, especially on the vulnerable categories, but together with the Government we will make effort to help those that were affected so as they are ready to overcome such situations, the WB official promised. Melanie Marlett is optimistic about the economic results that Moldova can achieve next year and says that the Government plans important reforms that can be implemented successfully. There are difficulties and challenges, but they can be overcome, she said. Though she could not say what budget the next WB Strategy for Moldova will have as it is now assessed and will be announced the next months, she said that she hopes the assistance for the next year will be larger than the 30 million USD that will be allocated to Moldova this fiscal year that ends in June 2008. Melanie Marlett said that the budget for the next three years of the International Development Agency, which grants preferential credits, will be 41.6 billion USD for 50 countries, including Moldova, and is designed for countries with incomes below 1,150 USD per capita. The allocations for every country are now being considered. The allocation for Moldova will depend on a number of factors like the performance and results under the WB projects in Moldova, the institutional and country assessment that contains a number of criteria – economic government, economic and social reforms etc.