BRUSSELS, March 24, 2010 - The Government of Moldova and its international development partners convened for the Consultative Group Meeting: Moldova Partnership Forum. The meeting was jointly co-chaired and hosted by the European Commission and the World Bank. The Government delegation was led by H.E. Vlad Filat, Prime Minister of Moldova and attended by 32 bilateral and 10 multi-lateral development partners.
The objectives were twofold:
- to reach a common understanding of the challenges facing Moldova in light of the economic crisis and the Government’s strategy for addressing them; and
- to ensure coordination and mobilization of external assistance to support Moldova in overcoming the severe effects of the current crisis.
The discussions focused on four broad areas: (1) the Government’s strategic priorities and political reform agenda; (2) the macro economic situation and the Government’s structural economic and social reform agenda; (3) needs for external aid and strategies for enhancing aid effectiveness; and (4) the response from the donor community.
“Moldova’s leaders know that there are no shortcuts in the way to prosperity”, said Martin Raiser, World Bank Country Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. “But they have demonstrated through early decisive actions their commitment to liberalizing the economy, fighting corruption, reforming the private sector and public sector governance. Their ambitious vision deserves international support.”
The Moldovan authorities informed the international community of progress made so far in advancing political, economic and social reforms. The Government reaffirmed its view that European integration is its key priority and that the most efficient way to achieve political, economic and social modernization of the country is to implement reforms leading the country on the path to European integration.
"We fully support the Moldovan Government's plan to Rethink Moldova." stated Štefan Füle, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy."Moldova is for the EU more than a neighbour. It is a close partner, with which we are working to make that part of the EU neighbourhood more stable and more prosperous. Stability at the EU's borders brings stability to the EU itself".
The Government of Moldova presented their strategic document – Rethink Moldova – which summarizes the Government’s comprehensive vision of the country’s short to medium-term priorities and highlights financing needs in support of reforms in infrastructure, public services, business environment, public administration, strengthened judiciary and anti-corruption.
Recent efforts to enhance the effectiveness of external assistance and implement fully the Government’s aid policy have been welcomed. A recent step in this direction has been the signing of the document called Development Partnership Principles for Moldova, which provides a framework for improved coordination of external assistance and sectoral division of labour.
Development partners expressed their strong support for the Government’s strategies outlined in Rethink Moldova and indicated financial support totalling 2.6 billion US dollars over the next four years, of which 30% is in budgetary and balance of payments support. Key areas for partners’ support will be roads rehabilitation, agriculture, water and sanitation, energy, health, regional development and social protection. The Government of Moldova and partners expressed satisfaction that this level of support would make a significant contribution to Moldova’s near term financing needs arising in particular from the impact of the economic crisis. All parties recognised the need to maintain the reform momentum necessary to attain Moldova’s medium term objectives.
