The EU plans to strengthen its support to Cahul and Ungheni regions in the Republic of Moldova

The EU plans to reinforce its support to Cahul and Ungheni regions in the Republic of Moldova to boost local social-economic development and reduce the gap between Chisinau and the rest of the Republic of Moldova.

European Commission Director for the EU's Eastern Neighbourhood, Lawrence Meredith, was in Cahul today to meet with local authorities, visit the local business incubator recently established with EU support and talk to university students at the University of Cahul.

During the visit, Mr. Meredith, said: "The EU's support to the Republic of Moldova is focused on bringing tangible benefits to the lives of citizens across the country. We have already achieved a lot working with the regions of Moldova, but we want to do more to give citizens the opportunity to live and work in regions such as Cahul and Ungheni."

The EU plans to further strengthen its work with local authorities in the Cahul and Ungheni regions to ensure sustainable development and economic growth. In this respect, enhancing EU support to local non-governmental organisations will lead to a more active participation of local communities, ensuring access to better public services and infrastructure. EU support will also focus on creating more employment opportunities for men and women in the regions through small scale investments and bringing more innovation through promoting start-ups.

Background:

The European Union's cooperation in the Republic of Moldova aims to deliver benefits to the Moldovan citizens. Concrete results achieved include the following: Providing support to 5,000 enterprises creating of more than 1500 new jobs; Facilitating business opportunities by establishing 8 business incubators around the country, including one in Cahul; rehabilitating 700 kilometres of roads across the country; improving the energy efficiency of kindergartens, schools, the lyceum in Cahul region allowing to cut on gas/electricity bills; rehabilitation of water supply and sanitation system for more than 14 000 inhabitants in Cahul and neighbouring villages.