Press releases

Around 350 women entrepreneurs from the Republic of Moldova participated on Saturday 14 December in the fifth edition of the Annual Forum of Women in Moldova, organised by the National Platform for Women (PNFM) in partnership with the Organisation for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (ODIMM).

This year’s general edition is “FEMEI for FEMEI” and aimed to shape the role of women’s association, as well as to find solutions to their challenges in business and social life.

Honorary guest of the Moldovan Annual Women’s Forum was Prime Minister Ion Chicu, who came with a message of encouragement and support for Moldovan businesswomen.

“Many Moldovan women are confident about the reorientation towards entrepreneurship, and this interest deserves and must be continuously encouraged. Moldovan female entrepreneurship undoubtedly has huge potential. In recent years, the female business environment has grown, women have become interested in internationally identified business trends and want to know what leadership means in the new economy. But more courage and support is needed for businesswomen to dare to become successful role models in even more areas’, stated Ion Chicu.

Iulia Costin, Director-General ODIMM and President of the PNFM stressed that women are increasingly active in any field of activity and are achieving excellence.

“We have been developing and supporting Moldova’s female business environment both nationally and internationally for 7 years with Platform members. In recent years, women have greatly evolved in the field of skills, increased and performed. Today we have put the spotlight on female entrepreneurship in Moldova, problems and role models of female entrepreneurs who have managed to cope with the failure. We continue to stay together because we all want to build a world where women have the courage to come forward every day and today’s meeting is the symbol of our ambition’, mentioned Iulia Costin.

Moldovan female entrepreneurs also have the support of the European Union.

Gintautas Baranauskas, Deputy Director of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova reiterated that gender equality and women’s empowerment were and remain key issues in European Union policies, including development and cooperation policies.

“The number of women in business is increasing and needs to be further increased. To speed up this process, we are providing funding through the ODSME National Women in Business Programme, under which 113 women entrepreneurs have received grants in the last two years. This means that 113 women have seen their ideas materialised and contributed to the well-being of their families. Women, like men, can benefit from EU-funded grants, consultancy and other SME support projects implemented by ODSMEs and other international financial institutions’, declared the European diplomat.

Anna Akhalkatsi, Director of the World Bank Office for Moldova, Europe and Central Asia, gave assurances that her institution would support female entrepreneurship to address both gender equality and reduce migration.

“Moldovan female entrepreneurs record higher productivity in certain sectors, on average they employ more people and offer better conditions for employed women. Today, there are many opportunities and opportunities to empower women, you just need to identify them and benefit from them’, Anna Akhalkatsi said.

Present at the event, Iuliana Drăgălin, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, gave assurances that the authorities would continue to support initiatives aimed at increasing the number of women in business. He also suggested assistance as a future aspiration for businesses created and supported by women to be at the heart of Moldova’s economy.

Lucretia Ciurea, UN WOMEN Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, stressed that the mission of the United Nations is to uphold human rights and gender equality. “A woman who is financially sustainable is active, safe and can break out of the vicious circle of domestic violence”.

The Forum presented the results of a practical exercise on the benefits of women’s association, which took place on 7 December, with the participation of 130 women and the improvisation of 3 models of associations with concrete packages of services for its members.

The traditional Annual Women’s Forum brought together people from different fields of activity:representatives of central and local public administration, business representatives, national and international development partners, business associations, civil society, etc.

The event also hosted the traditional ‘Feminin Entrepreneurship Gala’, celebrating women’s excellence in society. 7 businesswomen were awarded the prize: Angela Sobol, Valentina twin (New Market Product), Vasilcenco Olga, Angela Chicu (Innovative Start-up), Ivanenco Aliona, Victoria Novac (Social Initiatives) and Ludmila Catlabuga (Women of the Year).

The Moldovan Women’s Annual Forum is Moldova’s largest social media and support platform for women, aiming to facilitate the exchange of experiences and good practices.

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