The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has published “The Innovation Ecosystem in Moldova”, a report that presents a preliminary analysis of Moldova’s research and innovation ecosystem. The report aims to inform and connect actions in the fields of innovation and industrial competitiveness in the context of the Country Framework Programme signed between the Republic of Moldova and UNIDO in December 2018.
Iuliana Drăgălin, Moldova’s Secretary of State of the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure (MEI), said, “The report presented by UNIDO sets out the support mechanisms and tools developed and applied by the Government of the Republic of Moldova to promote industrialization and business development in Moldova, such as free economic zones, industrial parks, clusters, science and technology parks and business hubs, as well as recommendations for improving the research and innovation ecosystem.”
An examination of the statistics and current trends in the adoption of digital technologies in Moldova shows that the country still has a low transition level towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). However, the study also reveals that Moldova has good adoption readiness, spearheaded by infrastructure developments such as the extensive fibre optic and mobile networks coverage. The report concludes with a series of recommendations to maximize the country’s innovation potential.
Drăgălin thanked UNIDO, Moldova’s Organization for Small and Medium Enterprise Sector Development (ODIMM), the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the National Agency for Research and Development, and the Investment Agency, as well as the specialists from MEI and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research. She also noted that the respective institutions were actively involved in the process of developing and finalizing two project proposals set out in the UNIDO Country Framework Programme for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development 2019-2023: Supporting Industrial SMEs in Moldova through the Subcontracting and Partnership Centr, and Development of innovation, entrepreneurship and technology transfer (EIT) platforms for strengthening the links between research and industry in Moldova.
I am pleased to note that improving industrial competitiveness, job creation and promoting innovation-based economic development in Moldova, by strengthening knowledge and collaborative links between scientific and research institutions, the Government and the private sector, is of major interest to our partners,” acknowledged Drăgălin.