Moldovan PM says villages must develop in same pace with cities, should become resilient, connected, prosperous

Chisinau, 6 October /MOLDPRES/ - Over 400 beneficiaries of the LEADER programme: entrepreneurs, farmers and local public authorities today brought together at a conference on unveiling the results achieved by the LEADER programme in Moldova. The event, organized by the Agriculture and Food Industry Ministry (MAIA), Solidarity Fund PL and the LEADER national framework, was accompanied also by an open-air fair, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.       
In the opening of the meeting, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita stressed that the regional development was a priority of the cabinet. She also referred to the actions undertaken by the authorities to give an impetus to entrepreneurs from the rural environment to start businesses in their communities.    
„The government in the last year has adopted a string of measures meant to solve directly the needs of the local communities. And I will make reference also to two of them: the full allocation of the sums from the tax on the use of roads by mayoralties – which allowed repairing more local roads where people failed to intervene for decades, as well as the creation of the National Fund for Regional and Local Development, which has recently financed projects worth more than two billion lei within the European Village programme. The villages must develop in the same pace with the cities and become resilient, connected and prosperous,’’ Natalia Gavrilita said.        
Natalia Gavrilita appreciated the synergy between the government’s actions and the LEADER programme. So far, the initiative has managed to create 48 Local Action Groups, with the involvement of 745 settlements from over Moldova.   
„I am proud that Moldova is the first country outside the European Union to implement this programme from its own budgetary sources. This year, the Agriculture and Food Industry Ministry approved the financing of 37 Local Action groups, with 17.4 million lei allocated to this end. Enterprises will be set up and developed and new jobs will be created; modern equipment will be bought, rooms and buildings of economic, social, historical and cultural importance will be renovated; the public services will be improved locally; the rural tourism will be developed with this money,’’ the prime minister said.    
LEADER is a European Union’s initiative, a way and an instrument launched in 1991, meant to tackle the problems faced by the rural regions and stimulate the economic growth locally. In Moldova, the LEADER approach was launched in 2017 and is an example of cooperation and continuous dialogue between public institutions, development partners and local residents.  
Photo: Government