Enhancing public investment planning: Insights from peer countries

The EU-funded PPF Project in partnership with the Ministry of Finance, and coordinated with the EU Delegation to Moldova, organised on 3–4 April 2025 in Chisinau the workshop «Enhancing public investment planning; Comparative peer country experience». The event brought together around 100 participants from Moldovan public institutions, EU member states embassies, international financial institutions, development partners, and universities.

The workshop shared good practices and lessons learned in developing public investment planning systems. It provided the Ministry of Finance of Moldova with the opportunity to present its recent reform, while learning from the experiences of peer countries—Armenia, Georgia, and Montenegro. The discussion focused on the key elements of an efficient public investment planning system. 

The workshop featured presentations from the four country cases supported by a discussion panel composed of: Svetlana Cerovic, International Monetary Fund Resident Representative; Julda Kielyte, Team Leader for Competitive and Inclusive Growth at the EU Delegation to Moldova; Alberto Carlei, Head of European Investment Bank Representation for Moldova; Catarina Bjorlin Hansen, Head of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Moldova; and PPF Project experts Gnel Sedrakyan, Irina Grigoryan and Mandeep Bains. The workshop was moderated by Ion Gumene, State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Yiannis Hadziyiannakis, PPF Project Team Leader.

The event was opened by Ion Gumene and Magdalena Müller-Uri, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation. In her remarks, Magdalena Müller-Uri underlined the importance of public investment for long-term economic growth and stressed the need for a robust investment planning system to ensure effective use of the significant financial resources available to Moldova.

Day 1

Day 1 of the workshop featured the presentations of Moldova and Armenia. Viorel Pana, Director of Public Investment at the Ministry of Finance of Moldova, presented Moldova’s new Public Investment Planning Framework, followed by a demonstration of the Project Appraisal IT module by PPF expert Leonidas Crisciunas. This module is part of the PPF Project’s support aimed at automating the submission and appraisal procedure of public investment projects. Garik Petrosyan, Director of Public Investment of the Ministry of Finance of Armenia, shared Armenia’s public investment planning system, as well as planned and ongoing reforms.

Day 2

Day 2 of the workshops featured presentations by Branko Nilevic, Head of the Department for Public Investments Management of the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro, and Tinatin Gugava, Senior Specialist at the Budgetary Policy Division of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia. Both speakers discussed their countries’ approaches to public investment planning.

Panel discussions and Q&A sessions held over the two days complemented the country presentations, sharing perspectives and contributed to the exchange of ideas and engagement with the audience. 

The workshop provided Moldova with valuable insights from peer countries, laying the groundwork for further strengthening of investment planning processes and more impactful investments in the future.