OREANDA-NEWS. September 26, 2016. Ministry of Information Technology and Communications made public the Concept of development of the entrepreneurial eco-system for the IT industry – “Start-up Moldova”, developed in partnership with the USAID Competitiveness Project.

At the event, the Minister of Information Technology and Communications Vasile Botnari mentioned that the IT industry is regarded by the Government as a priority industry, with the best growing perspectives, and in this case a particular place comes to the startups phenomenon, which over time, has shown some phenomenal results.

Vasile Botnari, the Minister of Information Technology and Communications of the Republic of Moldova “Examples like Skype, WhatsApp are among the best known and the most often mentioned projects, which were launched as small start-ups, but which have registered capitalization of billions of dollars in just a few months. For the success of a startup an entire ecosystem, which would help it to grow from the idea to the implementation, visibility and profit is needed.”

In this regard, the Minister Botnari said that the measures taken so far, despite of the fact that they have had a stimulating effect on the IT industry growth, they need to be adjusted to the current realities. Thus, it is necessary to improve the institutional and legislative framework in order to support the new IT enterprises and ensure a higher IT companies survival rates.

The solutions proposed for addressing the major identified constrains are proposed to be focused on the following intervention fields:

            - meeting the current demand of the qualified personnel IT companies (team sourcing, Start-up Visa, etc.);

            - creating financial instruments to support the new local IT companies (angel's capital, venture funding, crowd funding, etc.);

            - providing the support organizational framework for the creation and development of IT companies.     

At the same time, the USAID Moldova Competitiveness Project supports the development of the entrepreneurial eco-system in the IT industry of the Republic of Moldova by offering certain international expertise based on successful practices of other countries.

Doina Nistor, Director of USAID Moldova Competitiveness Project: “The IT industry in the Republic of Moldova, on medium and long term, deserves more than being just a programming destination for foreign customers, because in our country we have talents and products that represent the single way of IT industry competitiveness. Therefore, the USAID Moldova, through the Competitiveness Project, has brought international expertise to help Moldova to create a favorable environment for the development of this sector. The USAID is actively involved in the development of the entrepreneurial eco-system in the IT sector and supports the efforts to increase and develop the technological and innovative society.”

During the event, the experts involved in supporting the USAID Moldova Competitiveness Project, Mrs Anca Albu and Mr Dovydas Varkulevicius have outlined the measures proposed for the authorities of the Republic of Moldova in order to create a favorable eco-system for the development of the technological entrepreneurship in Moldova. These include:

  • Attraction of IT specialists from the country and abroad and implementation of regulations that would encourage the entrepreneurs from abroad to open start-ups in the RM (“Start-up Visa”)”;
  • Attraction of private capital to finance the IT business and access mentors who share their own experience and knowledge, and ensure own capital through crowd funding;
  • Creation of a promotion and communication platform– Moldova Start-up, between the start-up community, private sector and public authorities, in order to ensure the support  of the IT eco-system by promoting the entrepreneurship culture, consulting and assisting the young IT entrepreneurs;
  • Education and promotion of entrepreneurship and the development programs (formation of incubators for creating sustainable start-ups and promoting entrepreneurship education from an early age).