​ESRA PROJECT COMPLETED IN MOLDOVA

The project of EU technical assistance Economic Stimulation in Rural Areas (ESRA) has successfully been completed, said Deputy Minister of Economy Valeriu Triboi during Thursday’s final press conference.

He said that the project with a budget worth 3.6 million euros helped to implement the program worth 68 million euros.

“More than 10 thousand jobs were created over four years and more than 1600 enterprises got assistance. Eight business incubators were opened with a network of 150 residents in the rural area”, Triboi said.

Ambassador Pirkka Tapiola, Head of the European Union Delegation to Moldova said that the ESPRA is a truly European program.

Financing different directions of the economic activity in Moldova, the EU hopes for formation of the small and medium entrepreneurs. They are the driving force of the economy. The activity, business acumen of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should manifest itself in Moldova also, Tapiola said.

According to him, the results of the project are impressive.

3200 individual grants were provided from European funds, programs, such as PARE 1+1 were conducted in order to help people come back from abroad and start their own business in their home country. Within 2011-2015 1600 enterprises have been created or financed. Projects helped conducting a more efficient economic policy and establish transparent financing mechanisms, the EU representative said.

ESRA Project Manager Philipp Santes expressed hope for further fruitful cooperation in this direction, reminding about Moldova’s joining the European Neighborhood Program in Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD).