The IDIS Viitorul think tank and the Gagauz authorities launched the autonomy's official web site www.gagauzia.md on Thursday, Info-Prim Neo reports. An expert with IDIS Viitorul, Liubomir Chiriac, has told a news conference the portal will offer technical and participating consolidation assistance to the development of the autonomy's towns and villages. The site is wanted to help promote European standards in managing the public affairs, positive practices, in agreement with free competition, and the transparency of decision-making mechanisms. The portal, created by an idea of governor Mihail Formuzal, is a key-component of program “Developing the local economy by action and alliance.” According to the Gagauz bashkan, they want thus to stimulate investments in the autonomy, since they represent only 1.7% of the total in the country. “As a rule, the investors do not go further than 10 kilometers from the capital. That's because they know little about Moldova's localities and regions,” Formuzal stated. The site is in Romanian, Russian, Gagauz and English. It has information about the free economic zone in the area, about the tax facilities for investors. IDIS Viitorul plans to publish a Guide for Investors in Gagauzia and to develop economic development strategies in the area. The initiative is backed by LGI-OSI (Budapest) and the Soros Foundation-Moldova. The project budget is $80,000.