Since the beginning of the year, 39.215 million MDL (97.5%) of the 40,215 million MDL allocated from the National Fund for Regional Development (NFRD) have been spent in the South Development Region for the implementation of 6 regional development projects. Also, construction and design works have been made from external sources, 61 million MDL allocated by development partners (The Government of Germany, The Government of Romania, EU, etc.) within other investment measures. More relevant details on the current state of the projects implemented by the RDA South were presented at the second ordinary meeting of the Regional Development Council South (RDC South), held on October 29, in Cimislia.

The meeting of the Regional Development Council South was attended by Mr Dorin Andros, State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment, Mr Igor Malai, the head of the Department for Regional Development Policy from MARDE and Mr Eduard Ungureanu, head of the Relations with Regional Development Institutions Department within the same ministry.

The meeting was chaired by the President of the Regional Development Council South, Mr Nicolae Molozea, who welcomed the participants, highlighted the main objectives and presented the agenda.

In the following, to the RDC South members was presented the Regional Development Agency South activity report for the January-September 2018 period. Mrs Maria Culesov, the RDA South director presented the most important Agency's specialists results in the process of implementing regional development projects, strategic planning and programming, communication and transparency, international relations, cooperating, exchanging of experience and attracting investment.

During the reference period, the institution focused mainly on activities carried out for spending financial means allocated from the NFRD and in implementing the investment projects included in the 2017-2020 Single Programming Document (SPD) and approved for financing in 2018.

Mrs Maria Culesov mentioned that in 2018, the RDA South has 13 investment projects in implementing, 6 of these are financed from the sources of the National Fund for Regional Development. By decision NCCRD no.3 / 18 of 16.02.2018, a total amount of 40,215 million MDL was allocated for the 2018 year from the NFRD to the Region South. In January-September period, the level of spending funds allocated from NFRD is about 97.5%. From external sources during this period, about 76.4% from allocated sources were spent.

The director of the RDA South presented to the members of RDC South information about the most important results regarding the implementation of 6 regional development projects financed by NFRD and 5 projects financed by the European Union within the "Modernization of Local Public Services in the Republic of Moldova" project, and implemented by the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ).

Also, Mrs Maria Culesov reported about a project of a major importance: "Construction of Leova Iargara Aqueduct", which is at the last stage of implementation and will be finished in early November. Built with the support of the Federal Government of Germany, the National Fund for Regional Development; the Leova District Counci involvement, and it has a value of 60 million MDL. More than 20 thousand citizens from the South region of Moldova will have access to modern water and sewerage services.

The director specified that the RDA South will continue to work well in organizing the project implementation process and ensuring efficient resource management, while coordinating the involvement of all parties in the project implementation process, maximum efforts are made for proper exercising responsibilities. This approach was also supported by the State Secretary, Mr Dorin Andros, who highlighted the importance of close cooperation between ADR South and central and local public authorities, public associations, other institutions and organizations and the private sector to solve existing problems and challenges in the field of regional development.

At the meeting was also presented information about the activity of the Regional Sectorial Committee (RSC) in the field of Water Supply and Sewerage (WSS) and RSC in the field of Solid Waste Management (SWM) within the RDC South, during January-September 2018. Mr Ion Gudumac, the president of Leova district and co-chair of RSC / WSS, and Mrs Tatiana Marin, the member of RSC / SWM, said that only the prospect of regionalization can ensure the delivery of quality services to citizens. The RSC representatives expressed the confidence that only strategic and participatory decision-making would contribute to strengthening inter-community cooperation in these two sectors.

In this context, the State Secretary at MARDE, Mr Dorin Andros, requested to the members of the two committees to provide proposals for improving the situation in the fields of WSS and SWM for the next RDC South meetings. The proposals could also be considered at national level, and subsequently found in targeted sector programs.

Mrs Carolina Ungureanu, IDIS "Viitorul" expert, spoke about the role and importance of civil society involvement in the implementation of the programs implemented within the "Modernization of Local Public Services in the Republic of Moldova" project. The expert stated that the main objective is to support the participation of citizens in local communities in the planning, implementation and monitoring of investment projects in the fields of water supply and sewerage and energy efficiency, as well as the implementation of awareness-raising measures for the development of the intercommunity cooperation projects.

One of the topics of the meeting was creation and operation of the on-line Communication Platform for RDC South and RSC members, created within MLPS project. Mrs Natalia Dubalari, specialist in the Strategic Planning and Programming Department at the RDA South spoke about this. The on-line platform will facilitate the work of RDC South and RSC members. The platform is integrated into the www.adrsud.md site and is currently in the process of testing.

At the ending of the RDC South meeting, the public policy project on Urban Development in the Republic of Moldova was presented. The chief of the Regional Development Policy Department at MARDE, Mr Igor Malai, mentioned that the general objective of the mentioned public policy is to create in Moldova a network of attractive cities for citizens, entrepreneurs and visitors, generating growth, employment and stimulating the development of adjacent areas. In this context, three options were listed: 1) maintaining the existing situation; 2) identifying and supporting a network of cities - growth poles; 3) supporting all 26 cities with over 10 thousand citizens.

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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.