Regional development Politics in Italy and Spain - Good Examples for Moldova to Follow

From January 20^th to 30^th, this year, representatives of the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction and the Regional Development Agencies - North, Center and South - of Moldova visited the cities of Lazio, Emilia Romagna and Veneto in Italy and the city of Zaragoza in Spain and, from the experience of these EU countries, they learned how regional development policies are promoted.
 In Italy, the Moldovan delegation was hosted by the three agencies which implement the development policies of regional governments by creating partnerships between institutions, organizations and associations for an integrated approach to these policies.

In the Lazio region, our representatives visited the FILAS organization which promotes business development focusing on the innovative and supportive Regional Government development in the monitoring of this process. The region emphasizes cluster development and fostering cooperation between companies. 

Bic Lazio - is a Business and Innovation Centre with a role of promoting an entrepreneurial culture, considered as the main instrument of economic growth and social development of the region.

In the Emilia Romagna region, our representatives  visited the Bologna ASTER Consortium, which includes the Regional Government, the Business Association, the National Research Center, the National Innovative Technologies Association and the Regional Union of Chambers of Commerce as well as most of the universities in the region, and their goal is to support, coordinate and improve research and technology transfer, sustaining at the same time, economic development and focusing on six areas: agriculture, constructions, energy efficiency, information technology and design, science and mechanics.

Treviso Technology from the Veneto region is an innovation agency that focuses on three main areas of intervention: technical assistance, research and technology development, and capacity building- all based on innovation and added value.
La Fornace Innovation Foundation was created by a group of entrepreneurial associates, which later expanded by attracting more representatives from universities, banks, chambers of commerce and other institutions - all involved in the creation of new enterprises in innovation and research. The foundation's work is based on business incubation, promoting the region and providing services to the existing ergonomic laboratory by conducting product usability testing.

Zaragoza (Spain)
The purpose of the vizit to Spain was to learn more about the urban development policies of the host country on the successful example of Zaragoza, a city with a population of about 700 000 inhabitants which has registerd growth in the last ten years due to its innovative policies in regard to efficient urban planning.  Our delegation was hosted by the city government of Zaragoza, which has implemented a series of physical infrastructure projects with a focus on improving public services for the  residents and the visitors to the city.

Zaragoza Tram is a new tram system, a project developed by the Zaragoza city government  in 2006 through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) in close collaboration with the Association of the Blind and a public communication agency and thus creating a well-integrated system by redesigning the city center, reconstruction of the underground networks, landscaping of the city spaces, etc. This project has won for the city several international awards and is considered the best project of the year 2012 for the achieved sustainability and the applied efficient management system.

 ECOCIUDAD Valdespartera is the newest "eco" neighborhood that meets all the criteria of energy efficiency. Located in the south of Zaragoza with approximately 10,000 residential buildings, of which 97% are social housing, the district is administered by the City of Zaragoza government and was built in  accordance with sustainability parameters thanks to the integrated control of the public utility networks (water and sanitation, electricity, etc.). The buildings comply with the clean bioclimatic measures, according to which the energy, heat and water consumption is 60% less than usual due to the collecting galleries offering a higher level of thermal insulation and ventilation.

The Center for Arts and Technology (CAT) from the campus "The Digital Mile" houses 24 start-up companies based on three strategic areas: energy efficiency (EE), Information Technology (IT) and e-Health. "The Digital Mile "is a innovative district which was designed to accommodate modern technology-based companies, offering consulting and advanced telecommunication infrastructure. The center aims to create a symbiosis between art and new technologies through research. The infrastructure is based on the use of alternative sources - geothermal energy and water, solar panels and air currents).

These visits of our delegations suggest that innovative elements from the regional development policies of the EU countries, which would be worth being considered in the context of Moldova are:

Boosting entrepreneurship;
 Encouraging local producers;
 Association in clusters;
 Social innovation (creative ideas are encouraged);
 Public Private Partnership;
 Existence of an entrepreneurial culture;
 Association of entrepreneurs and other stakeholders;
 Creating partnerships with research universities, etc.