Cultural Voucher national programme launched in Moldova

Chisinau, 17 November /MOLDPRES/ - Young people from Moldova will benefit from Cultural Voucher worth 1,000 lei when reaching full age, in order to have access to cultural services of the country. The Cultural Voucher national programme was launched by the Culture Ministry, in cooperation with the Electronic Governance Agency at a news conference today.   

Attending the event, Culture Minister Sergiu Prodan said the programme was enforced starting from today. It will be available for the young people who turned 18 years on the platform www.mpay.gov.md.    

According to the official, the cultural voucher is an instrument of the government to encourage the cultural consumption among young people and cultivate the interest in the fine arts and reading. At the same time, the programme stimulates the sound competition between the providers of cultural products, in the carrying out of artistic activities which are attractive for the audience from this age category. To be able to use the voucher, the young person is to get the digital signature from one of the mobile telephony operators and then, by accessing the websites of the providers of cultural services, to select the product desired. ‘’Each year, over 45,000 young people reach the full age. This means that a sum of 45 million lei will be annually allocated for the cultural voucher,’’ Minister Sergiu Prodan also said.       

In the context, Deputy prime Minister for Digitalization Iurie Turcanu said the programme was an innovation, which facilitates the access to the cultural product through technology. ‘’Through this project, we provide quick, safe and convenient access for each beneficiary to use the money allocated on purpose of culturalization and, at the same time, we make sure that this support on behalf of the state reaches exactly the addressee, transparently and quickly, through the MPay governmental services of electronic payments,’’ Iurie Turcanu noted.     

Also, the deputy PM specified that the electronic signature was the safest and the most secure instrument of authentication in the digital environment. He urged young people to get the electronic signature, in order to benefit from the Voucher and the entire range of governmental electronic services.    

The Cultural Voucher national programme places Moldova among countries with good practices in this field, such as Italy, France, Spain, Germany. Beneficiaries can use the voucher till reaching the age of 19 years for any native product: beginning with tickets for theatre plays and concerts, up to books or training courses.  

The programme is implemented by the Culture Ministry, in cooperation with the Electronic Governance Agency and benefits from technical assistance on behalf of the U.S. Agency for International Development and government of Sweden through the Future Technologies Activity.