Republic of Moldova

Moldova hosts regional meeting on global economic crisis

Policy experts from Eastern Europe and Central Asia gather to evaluate country responses to global economic crisis

Chişinău, 6 July 2010 – The Republic of Moldova is hosting a regional policy roundtable discussion on 6 and 7 July to review the recent experiences of countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia in responding to the global economic crisis.

State Minister Victor Bodiu opened discussions with current and former policy makers from the region, policy advisors, senior experts, as well as representatives from international organizations, who are discussing key lessons learned from country responses to the crisis.

The overall objective is to improve the understanding, among policy makers and development practitioners, of the governance challenges that countries in the region are still facing, and of possible ways to strengthen the resilience, effectiveness and responsiveness of their governance systems in the coming years.

They are identifying their main strengths, as well as the persistent capacity gaps and structural weaknesses of governance systems in transition countries, in particular with regard to policy and institutional frameworks.

The meeting in Chisinau is the first in a series that will culminate with a high-level regional governance forum in early 2011.

"After twenty years of transition and state reforms, countries in our region have achieved tremendous progress in building governance systems that are more responsive to the aspirations of their societies,” said Annie Demirjian, Democratic Governance Practice Leader from UNDP’s Regional Centre in Bratislava.

“However, as the recent experience of the global economic crisis has shown, persistent weaknesses remain, which have affected the countries' capacities to anticipate the impact of the crisis and develop timely and effective responses. We are trying to understand what went well and what went wrong, with a view to develop a new generation of reforms that will build more resilient, effective and inclusive governance processes and institutions in this region."

The roundtable is part of a broader initiative by UNDP to re-assess governance reforms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia based on the experience of two decades of transition and state reforms, and in the aftermath of the global economic crisis, which has affected the region of Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States more than any other region in the world.

The regional meeting is hosted by the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the UNDP Moldova office, in partnership with the UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre and the Regional Centre for Public Administration Reform, a programme implemented by UNDP with funding from the Hellenic Government.

Media contact:  Ludmila Tiganu, Communications Specialist, UNDP Moldova, Tel: 269 112
ludmila.tiganu@undp.org