The Cazangic village from Leova district has signed a cooperation agreement with Neretsk, a region of Latvia

The inhabitants of Cazangic village from Leova district have now partners not only beyond the Prut river, but also in the Neretsk region of Latvia. In this respect, the heads of the local government from both countries have recently signed a collaboration agreement.

The collaboration agreement between two public administrations was signed by Mr. Ion Guţu, the Mayor of Cazangic, and Mr. Arvids Kviesis, the Mayor of Neretsk County of the Republic of Latvia. The agreement was facilitated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia (VARAM) and Regional Development Agency South (RDA South).

The signing ceremony took place in the Cazangic House of Culture. At the event were present representatives of the Village Hall, educational and cultural institutions and Regional Development Agency South. There were also present the representatives of the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia in the Republic of Moldova and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia.

Before the signing ceremony started, Latvian officials had visited the gymnasium and kindergarten from the Cazangic village. Teachers of both institutions warmly welcomed the delegation and shared with them their achievements and results.

The Latvians visited the library and resource center for children with special educational needs within the same school. They had the chance to see the children, who attend the district sport school branch, practicing free fighting and proving their skills and abilities. The natives have proudly told the Latvians about the performances of the Cazangic athletes who make their locality famous beyond the borders of the Republic of Moldova.

The participants at the event discussed the collaborative perspective between these communities.

"When I visited Latvia, I discovered that our nations have a lot in common. Together with Romania, to which we are connected by a historical past, Latvia, as a member of the European Union, has a potential to which we should aspire too. In the process of the European path, Republic of Moldova needs support from countries which have already achieved this goal. We intend to adopt good local public administration practices and European standards from our Latvian friends. We also hope to implement socio-cultural projects together. That's why we started this partnership, "said Mr. Ion Guţu, the Mayor of Cazangic.

„The most important thing is that this is not a simple signed agreement. Besides this agreement are people, who know each other and collaborate. Coming here, I was pleasantly surprised that I see so many known and unknown to me things. Of course, the signed agreement is the foundation of our future relations and behind it there are beautiful initiatives and people, "said the president of Neretsk region, Mr. Arvids Kviesis.

Mr. Janis Eglits, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, appreciated the cooperation in the field of regional development between his country and the Republic of Moldova. He also expressed his readiness to further support the development of the regions of our country, including the Development Region South.

The Latvian official congratulated the signatories of the agreement. "I was pleasantly surprised by the optimism and the desire of Moldovan people to build a better future for themselves. I hope very much that these two villages will maintain very close collaboration. I am sure that the agreement will be the one that will bring closer two territorial administrative units from economic and cultural points of view, "added Mr.Janis Eglits said.

Mrs. Oxana Cazacu, the head of the Cooperation and investments attraction department of Regional Development Agency South, was delighted to see this beautiful achievement of the LPA and the inhabitants of Cazangic village. Mentioning the development prospects given to Cazangic village, the newly signed cooperation agreement, she stressed on the fact that the Development Region South will continue to strengthen its cooperation relations in the field of regional development with Latvia, identifying and setting new partnerships at the level of local government.