Press releases

9 September 2026, Chișinău — Expanding Moldovan-Japanese cooperation to enhance the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises and promote the wider application of Japanese management and productivity methodologies was at the heart of the meeting between Vadim Codreanu, Director of the Organization for Entrepreneurship Development (ODA), and His Excellency Kazuyuki Takeuchi, Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Moldova.

The meeting provided an opportunity to assess the results of the cooperation developed by ODA with the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), as well as to exchange views on the areas in which Japanese experience and expertise can continue to contribute to the development of a more productive and competitive SME sector in the Republic of Moldova.

The partnership with JICA, initiated in 2011, has supported the development of consultancy services for SMEs, the strengthening of institutional and regional capacities to support entrepreneurs, and the transfer of Japanese practices in the areas of management, efficiency, and productivity.

At the current stage, cooperation is focused on introducing and applying Kaizen/Lean methodologies based on the continuous improvement of processes within enterprises. In this regard, the Kaizen Facilitation Service has been developed, alongside the training of facilitators who will be able to assist companies in identifying and implementing solutions to improve the efficiency of their operations.

In the coming period, the application of the Kaizen methodology will move from training to practical interventions within enterprises.

Eight SMEs from six localities across the Republic of Moldova will benefit from the practical application of Kaizen tools, enabling companies to identify solutions tailored to their own processes in order to increase productivity, improve quality, and enhance operational efficiency.

“The experience accumulated over 15 years of cooperation provides us with a solid foundation for moving from knowledge transfer to its increasingly widespread application within companies. For ODA, the objective is to ensure that international best practices translate into measurable results for entrepreneurs: more efficient processes, better-managed costs, more competitive products and services, and enterprises that are better prepared for growth and access to new markets,” emphasized Vadim Codreanu.

During the discussions, the parties welcomed the results of the partnership built over the years and reiterated their interest in continuing the dialogue and identifying new opportunities for cooperation, building on the experience already accumulated and the current needs of the business environment in the Republic of Moldova.

ODA aims to continue leveraging the expertise and best practices developed together with its Japanese partners so that modern tools for management, productivity, and continuous improvement can be increasingly integrated into the support services provided to small and medium-sized enterprises.

For more information about entrepreneurship support programmes, visit the official website www.oda.md or contact the ODA Consultation Centre by phone at 022 22 57 99.