Prime Minister calls on Moldovans in diaspora to support Moldova’s development projects

Prime Minister Vasile Tofan has issued an appeal to Moldovans in the diaspora who possess experience and expertise in specific fields to become voluntarily involved in supporting development projects in the Republic of Moldova.

The appeal was made at today’s Government meeting, while members of the Cabinet were examining a draft decision concerning inspections carried out by the Naval Agency. Vasile Tofan stated that, following discussions at the previous Cabinet meeting about revitalizing the Naval Agency and attracting ships under the flag of the Republic of Moldova, he received a letter from a Moldovan citizen in the diaspora who had watched the meeting online and offered his support.

According to the Prime Minister, this specialist worked for 17 years within Italy’s national maritime authority and later managed maritime flags for some of the countries with the largest commercial fleets in the world. He expressed his willingness to provide consultancy to the Moldovan authorities in order to strengthen the competitiveness of the Republic of Moldova’s flag.

“I will allow myself to step in here with an additional comment that I find interesting and perhaps relevant for other topics as well. Following the discussion at the previous meeting, where we tried to revive our Naval Agency so that we can attract potential ships under our flag and earn revenue as a state, I received a very interesting letter from a Moldovan from the diaspora who watched the Government meeting. I am surprised that people in the diaspora even watch our Government meetings. The gentleman is from the diaspora, he worked for 17 years for the maritime authority in Italy and managed flags. After that he had another job and managed the flags of some of the countries with the largest fleets in the world. He says: ‘I know this field well, I am ready to advise you.’ I hope he will do it free of charge, to advise us and help us build our own competencies. And if you think about the chances, we could hire a consultant whom we would have to pay a lot of money, but here we have a Moldovan who wants to lend a hand,” Vasile Tofan said at today’s Cabinet meeting.

He also read out a fragment of the letter sent by the Moldovan citizen who offered his support in providing consultancy to the Republic of Moldova.

“I am willing to make my expertise available to the authorities in order to identify measures that could strengthen the image of the Republic of Moldova’s flag, increase its attractiveness on the international market and contribute to higher revenues for the state budget,” the letter states.

In this context, the Prime Minister called on all citizens in the diaspora to follow the same example and contribute their expertise and experience to the implementation of the country’s development projects.

“Dear Moldovans in the diaspora, if more of you would like to contribute on certain topics that you happen to see discussed at Government meetings and especially if you wish to do it on a pro bono basis, because we do not really have the funds to pay you, although if needed we might be able to find resources in some cases, please write to us. We truly want to be open to such initiatives,” concluded Tofan.