Cimișlia, March 15, 2018

The members of the Regional Development Council South (RDC South) held the first meeting this year. At this one, the Report on implementation of the Regional Development Strategy South and Activity Report of the RDA South for 2017 were presented. The members have approved the Plan for the implementation of the Regional Development Strategy South for 2018. Another presented subject was about the activities carried out by the Agency, in order to implement the investment projects financed from the NFRD and EU sources, ensure the functioning of the Regional Sectorial Committees in the fields of Solid Waste Management and Water Supply and Sewerage in the Development Region South.

 In the presence of 24 of the 32 elected members, the meeting was led by Mr Nicolae Molozea, the President of the Regional Development Council South, who welcomed the participants, highlighted the main objectives and presented the agenda.

Mr Nicolae Molozea has urged the members of the RDC South to be responsible and assume the effort to actively and plenary engage in solving problems and making decisions for the development of the region.

Being present at the RDC South, Mr Igor Malai, the head of the Regional Development Policy Directorate within the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment, welcomed the audience, noting that the central authorities are making strong efforts to convince development partners and attract considerable investment for infrastructure rehabilitation and modernization projects.

Mrs Maria Culeşov, the Director of the RDA South, informed the RDC South members and the participants at the meeting about the Agency's achievements in 2017 and plans for 2018.

The Report on Implementation of the Regional Development Strategy for 2016-2020 is focused on the activities carried out during the past year. The Director of the RDA South presented the most important achieved by the Agency's specialists results in the implementation of the regional development projects, strategic and programming, organizing events and promoting the region, communication and transparency, international relations, cooperation, exchange of experience and attracting investment.

During the reference period, the institution focused mainly on the activities carried out in order to capitalize the finances from the NFRD and implement the investment projects included in Single Programming Document for 2017-2020 years and approved for funding in 2017.

Mrs Maria Culeşov noted that in 2017, the RDC South approved the Regional Operational Plan South for 2017-2020 years, which is a strategy implementation tool and contains investment projects submitted by the LPAs from the DR South and selected in the III call of project proposals funded by the National Fund for Regional Development (FNDR). The ROP South has 59 investment projects, of a total value of 2 billion 960 million MDL.

Following, by the GD no. 203 of 29.03.2017 was approved the Single Programming Document for 2017-2020 years, which includes 13 projects from the ROP South for 2017-2020 years, 6 of them were approved for financing for 2017. The amount given by the NCCRD for the 2017 year to implement these projects was 40.62 million MDL. The work done by the RDA South during the reporting period was specifically directed to the implementation of these projects, said the director of the Agency.

By joining the efforts, the RDA South and the regional/local partners, in cooperation with the international development partners, guided by the RDC South policies and decisions, have worked towards the targets set for the reporting period and achieved the following results: 2 funded investment projects from the NFRD, successfully completed; 6,83 km of built/rehabilitated paved road ; 4.55 km of built macadam road; 8.43 km of built sewerage networks, capitalizing 40.62 million MDL from the NFRD for investment projects.

Among the most important achievements of last year in the field of regional planning and programming, mrs. Maria Culeşov mentioned the following: 2 regional sectorial programs on areas of increasing tourism attractiveness of the DR South and development of business support infrastructure, developed and approved by the RDC South; 1 Portfolio of project concepts promoted within the Regional Sectorial Program to increase the tourism attractiveness of DRS; 4 project concepts in the field of the development of business support infrastructure identified; 1 project concept developed and applied for funding under the "Mayors for Economic Growth" program, 2 regional sectorial committees (RSCs) established in WSS and SWM domains and ensured their functionality.

Mrs Natalia Dubalari, the specialist in Strategic Planning and Programming, presented more information about the activities of the RDA South, in order to ensure the functionality of the Regional Sectorial Committees in the fields of solid waste management (SWM), water supply and sewage systems (WSS) in the DR South.

The members of the RDC elected the co-chair of the Regional Committee in the field of the Solid Waste Management, being unanimously approved the candidacy of Mr Iovu Bivol, the President of Cimișlia District.

Two other important decisions on the agenda of the RDC South meeting were those on supporting, in the DR South, implementation initiative of the EU-funded "South Gate of the Republic of Moldova Open for Business and Investment" project. The second decision was for initiation of the project, at the Leova District Council initiative: "Construction of the cross-border bridge over the Prut river Leova (MD) - Bumbăta (RO)". The RDC members welcomed both projects mentioned as important for the region and for the country, giving their confidence vote for the initiatives launched within the investment projects that will boost the economic development of the area.

The members of the RDC South have also approved by the majority vote the request of the Cahul District Council for the extension of the project "Cahul - Lebedenco - Alexandru Ioan Cuza pipeline and the local networks of the villages Lebedenco - Nicolaevca " by including Iujnoe and Burlăceni localities. The II-nd Stage is to address to the regional development partners in order to examine the possibility of identifying financial resources for the execution of design and construction services.

About the EU Initiative "Mayors for Economic Growth" (M4EG), launched in 2017 within the Eastern Partnership, Mr Lilian Danilov, the coordinator of the project in the Republic of Moldova, said that up to now, 18 public authorities from the country joined the initiative, five of which are from the Development Region South, namely: Cimișlia District Council, Căușeni District Council, Cahul, Cimislia and Căuşeni Mayoralties.

The Local authorities that have joined the M4EG Club will be assisted in developing the Local Development Plans, documents that will receive the World Bank's notice and will bring more opportunities for developing and applying to various EU-funded calls for projects in the economic development field.

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The RDC South is a deliberative regional structure, without a legal status, established in order to coordinate and promote the objectives regarding the regional development policy on a local level in the Development Region South (DR South), which includes Cimișlia, Ştefan Vodă, Căuşeni, Cahul, Cantemir, Leova, Taraclia and Basarabeasca districts. The RDC South has 32 members, consisting of the presidents, representatives of the associations of mayors, civil society and the private sector from each district of DR South. The members of the RDC South exercise their responsibilities free of charge.