Press releases

Today, 22 July, at the Palace of the Republic, took place presentation event of the Organisation for the Development of Entrepreneurship (ODA), public institution under the responsibility of the Ministry of Economy. The mission is to support the development of the domestic entrepreneurial environment, including small and medium-sized enterprises, by promoting entrepreneurial culture, providing financial and technical assistance to companies, issuing financial and state guarantees, as well as providing business support infrastructure. The new, reformed institution of the IMMO will have a new organisational structure, an effective risk management system and will implement rigorous control over the use of public money.

The launch event of ODA was attended by Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița, Minister for Economic Affairs, Sergiu Gaibu, representatives of international partner development organisations, diplomatic missions, central public authorities, financial institutions and business associations invited from business and associated business associations.

Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița noted that the Executive would continue to support the development of entrepreneurship to become an increasingly powerful engine of the national economy.

“We want ODA to become a bridge between the state and entrepreneurs and truly pro-active in identifying the entrepreneurial potential of our citizens of any age, in any region of the country, in any field of activity. The Government believes in the potential of its entrepreneurs and can be fully exploited by involving the authorities at key moments of business development” said Natalia Gavrilița.

Minister for Economic Affairs, Sergiu Gaibu reassure that the Government will expand the range of ODA services to strengthen the entrepreneurial environment.

“We are pursuing a great effort with our international experts and partners, the EU, GIZ, USAID, who have greatly helped us. It is an in-depth restructuring of the organisation, not just a rebranding. Changes were absolutely necessary to broaden its mandate and find workable solutions to support and boost the private sector of the national economy. We have proposed to help entrepreneurs to overcome the crisis period through which we cross not only our country, but the whole humanity. What’s more, we want to increase the number of entrepreneurs, develop new programmes and sectors that result in job creation. Through ODA, we want to provide entrepreneurs with all the medium they need. We want to increase both programmes and financial instruments supporting entrepreneurs. In addition to the Guarantee Fund, currently available, we also want to develop a Development Fund, which will provide cheap resources to our investors to provide them with funding for up to 10 years, at a stable price, protected from the risks of the financial system.”

The European Union is one of the strategic partners in supporting the business environment in the Republic of Moldova. European Union Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, Jānis Mažeikshighlighted: “Support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is at the heart of the European Union’s assistance to the Eastern Partnership countries. We believe that small businesses play a key role in building modern economies because of their ability to innovate and adapt to rapidly changing markets. There are a number of examples in recent months, where small businesses have managed to quickly reorient their production or services, combine resources to address urgent needs or reorganise their operations by switching to digital technology to continue serving their customers. With Moldova’s new EU candidate status, the European Union will continue to support support programmes for SMEs and the new Entrepreneurship Development Organisation (ODA) to contribute to a stronger economy of the country and the well-being of its citizens.”

Siegmund Mueller, Country Director of the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) welcomed the initiative to reform the business support institution. “The German International Cooperation Agency is a reliable partner for the Ministry of Economy, ODIMM and now ODA in private sector development issues. The expansion of ODA underlines the commitment of the Government of the Republic of Moldova to the fortification of SMEs, which is the foundation of the country’s economy, creating a necessary basis for more efficient and sustainable support.”

Inguna Dobraja, Country Representative, World Bank reiterated the importance of supporting entrepreneurs to develop sustainable business in Moldova.

‘The recently approved funding for the competitiveness project of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises will continue our long-standing cooperation with the Government, Ministry of Economy and ODA and will indeed contribute to improving and streamlining business services through digitalisation. It will also enable SMEs to become more competitive and facilitate their access to finance, which will help increase Moldovan exports and create jobs. ODA will play a very important role in this process and we are here to help. We will work with you to introduce new instruments, such as portfolio guarantees, to allow several hundred SMEs to access much-needed funding for investments. We will also help you with the business internationalisation grant programme to support the export preparedness of several hundred Moldovan companies. I am very glad that we, the World Bank, have worked closely with the government and Minister Gaibu to design this support for Moldova, where ODA plays such an important role. This will have an impact on private sector growth, exports and employment in Moldova, making the country’s future less uncertain and more resilient and sustainable”.

Executive Director of the Alliance of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Moldova, Liliana Busuioc appreciated the efforts of the authorities to reorganise the most important entity in our country responsible for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. “We are allies through our mission to contribute to a business environment where SMEs thrive and we want to see an increase in the share of SMEs in the national economy by increasing business figures, newly created jobs and contributions to the state budget. In the current challenges, our expectations are very high: we want the Organisation for the Development of Entrepreneurship to increase the number of newly created businesses and to increase the potential for the growth, development and internationalisation of existing businesses”.

Dumitru Ptea, Interim Director ODA, noted that the new institution aims to be strong, with modern governance able to come up with clear solutions for entrepreneurs especially in times of crisis. “The governance of the institution will be aligned with modern requirements and principles to ensure increased transparency, more efficient processes and extended absorption capacity of external partners’ funding. We will provide a broader range of programmes and more qualitative assistance in the preparation of investment projects to contribute to the sustainable development of businesses, from launch to internationalisation. ODA will be assimilated to a financial institution assessing credit risk, market risk, economic affiliation and concentration, viability and impact over time of the business.”

ODA also aims to strengthen collaboration with the Business Incubators Network, Business Advisory Centres, other business support entities, in order to transform them into regional partners, which will support the implementation of local support mechanisms. At the same time, the institution will digitalise its internal processes to improve interaction with beneficiaries through an information system that will ensure more rigorous control of processes. The decision-making process will also be changed, through the establishment of an external financing and risk committee, composed of members independent from both the political and the internal operational environment.

Reform of the organisation and creation of visibility elements are supported by the technical assistance project “Support to SMEs in rural regions”funded by the European Union. The organisation of the kick-off event of ODA is co-financed by the European Union.