Signatory municipalities from the Republic of Moldova making progress in planning for economic growth and development of their territories

13 March 2018

On 13-14 March 2018, the EU Initiative “Mayors for Economic Growth” (M4EG) Secretariat held the third training module (out of four) for the elaboration of the Local Economic Development Plans for its Signatories, which took place in Chisinau, Moldova.

24 Local Economic Development officers (representatives of the Local Authorities and of the Regional Development Agencies) presented the results of participatory discussions and consultations they had held in their municipalities, which resulted in the jointly defined visions and related strategic local economic development objectives, based on the analysis of internal endowments of their local economies and external factors influencing it.

The LED officers have also shared their achievements, challenges, and best practices in engaging with the business sector during the consultation process. For many of them establishing local public-private dialogue and cooperation is a relatively new practice, but it’s already obvious that it brings a lot of benefits to both parties, and therefore it will need be deepened and somehow institutionalized in the future.

Finally, the participants of the training explored the specifics of designing specific actions, setting up monitoring indicators, and mobilizing financial sources for stimulating economic growth. Representatives of a commercial bank, the EU4business programme, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development informed the participants of various credits and grant schemes available at the moment to both the local public authorities and private entities for this purpose. Complementary non-financial opportunities to promote the decentralized cooperation (like the EU Programme Connect) were presented at the event by a representative of Congress of Local Authorities from Moldova.

During the event a new Moldovan signatory to the M4EG Initiative, Drochia municipality, was ceremonially awarded with the M4EG membership certificate and welcomed to the community.