Press releases

Business people in the Republic of Moldova interested in sustainable products and consumption patterns have been familiarised today, in a virtual format, with European methods for promoting eco-innovations in entrepreneurship. Examples of good practices from companies abroad were also provided and could be capitalised on by domestic entrepreneurs. Under the first National workshop with generics “Promoting eco-innovation in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises”initiated by the Organisation for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (ODIMM) in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in the regional EU4Environment project, more than 100 representatives of public authorities, business, academia, environmental organisations and external development partners participated.

ODIMM Director-General Iulia Costinopening the event, he stressed that the implementation of innovative practices in small and middle-sized businesses was urgently needed in the context of global economic challenges.

“Promoting eco-innovations in the production of the products of domestic companies is one of the viable solutions to adapt to the difficult conditions and challenges that have emerged in recent times. The adaptation of European practices by companies will foster their development and offer greater potential to cope with existing competitive pressure both within the country and externally”.

Present at the event, Vasile Vulpe, Head of Directorate for Economic Policy and Business Environment within the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure reiterated the Government’s support in promoting business sustainability.

“The promotion of best practices in technology transfer and innovative business as well as familiarisation with the case studies on eco-innovations existing in the Member States of the European Union will contribute to capacity building in the field of eco-innovation of SMEs in the Republic of Moldova and enable the uptake of best practices in this regard. Eco-innovation can and must be the solution that inevitably leads to the achievement of progress in achieving the objective of sustainable economic development”stated Vasile Vulpe.

The workshop aimed to present the UNEP and EU methodology to promote eco-innovation in SMEs.

Successful implementation of eco-innovations can be achieved by providing training and education programmes, said Alex Leshchynskyy, Technical Officer of the United Nations Environment Programme.

“Eco-innovations in the field of entrepreneurship are a challenging process, and identifying barriers and opportunities at the level of each business and the main gaps could help build a better understanding of the context and conditions for their implementation in the Republic of Moldova”.

Supporting eco-innovations in the business environment is one of the three key areas of the SME Greening Programme, managed by ODSME.

“The aim of the SME Greening Programme is to promote, support and develop the entrepreneurial capacities of SMEs to adapt their production processes and services towards social and environmental sustainability. Its vision and objectives are well aligned with the UNEP and EU vision on eco-innovation for SMEs“, said: Constantin Țurcanu, Head of International Finance and Export, ODIMM.

Data from a National Report on the Performance Assessment of Green Economic Development based on the Green Growth Indicators set, prepared in 2017 with the support of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in the framework of the EaP GREEN project, indicate that only 3 % of innovations are applied in practice in the business sector in the Republic of Moldova. Promoting the deployment of eco-innovations in business will provide the Republic of Moldova with a number of opportunities to take advantage of both the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the European Union and to achieve the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.