Promoting public investment projects for growth and development in the Republic of Moldova

On 16-17 November 2021, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) with the support of the EU-funded Project “Support the Moldovan Government in Identifying and Preparing Projects Linked to the Implementation of the Association Agreement (PPF),” delivered an online workshop to raise awareness of the newly formed line ministries about the management of the external assistance and the process of selecting and budgeting public investment projects.

During the workshop, the participants discussed the top-down role of the MoF and the bottom-up role of line ministries in the appraisal and budgeting processes of public investment projects. It was highlighted that the identification and design of public investment projects is the responsibility of line ministries, with the MoF being responsible for determining the eligibility of projects based on the national appraisal criteria. The MoF is also responsible for the budgeting of public investment projects as part of the Medium-Term Budget Framework and the State Budget.

Another important topic discussed during the workshop was related to the management and coordination of external assistance. The workshop explained that the MoF, as the National Authority for External Assistance, is responsible for supervising and overseeing the dialogue and negotiations with development partners as well as for ensuring that external assistance projects proposals are in line with the relevant national processes and procedures.

Finally, the participants were informed about the PPF Project team’s assistance to the MoF in improving the regulation governing public investment project planning and developing a web-based application aimed at simplifying the procedure of submission of projects for appraisal by line ministries to the MoF.

The PPF Project is also mandated to engage with and assist line ministries. Follow up meetings between the PPF Project team and line ministries will be planned where officials can raise their specific needs and concerns to the team.