Three towns (Ialoveni, Edinet and Straseni) and three villages (Colibasi, Carpineni and Selemet) received grants of US$ 20,000 from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, through the UNDP Migration and Local Development Project to boost local business development, IPN reports.
The direct beneficiaries of the projects will be about 200 small and medium enterprises, agricultural producers, processing enterprises from textile, trade and industrial products industries, as well as economic agents - residents of industrial parks of Edinet and Straseni municipalities. The indirect beneficiaries of the projects will be over 1,200 farms from rural areas from closely adjacent localities. Following the implementation of these projects, new jobs, half of which will be taken up by women, will be created.
Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Moldova Simone Giger said rural development depends on the viability of local business environment. This is why the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation supports local public authorities in upgrading the economic infrastructure to attract investors in villages and towns in Moldova.
These six projects will improve business support infrastructure, will offer opportunities for production of alternative energy resources, will create conditions for processing agricultural production and for attracting new investors.
Of the total value of projects amounting to US$ 176,000, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation provides six grants totaling US$ 120,000, local authorities co-finance with the amount of US$ 20,000 and business environment contributes more than US$ 36,000.
