Moldova, Republic of

The Republic of Moldova considers education a national priority and has been making steady progress in reforming and modernising its education system. The Ministry of Education and Research (MoER) in 2023 launched its Education Development Strategy 2030 and requested the European Union (EU) to engage the OECD to undertake a deeper analysis of selected policy domains that are central to its education reform. This laid the foundation for the project “Support to the implementation of education policies in Moldova”, funded by the EU. The MoER expressed a keen interest to learn from international research evidence and relevant international examples to help advance its education reform agenda.

This report is the second output of the project “Support to implementation of education policies in Moldova” and presents an analysis of one of three selected policy domains: “the evaluation of Vocational Education and Training (VET) programmes and institutions in order to improve their functioning”.

The Republic of Moldova considers education a national priority and has been making steady progress in reforming and modernising its education system. The Ministry of Education and Research (MoER) in 2023 launched its Education Development Strategy 2030 and requested the European Union (EU) to engage the OECD to undertake a deeper analysis of selected policy domains that are central to its education reform. This laid the foundation for the project “Support to the implementation of education policies in Moldova”, funded by the EU. The MoER expressed a keen interest to learn from international research evidence and relevant international examples to help advance its education reform agenda.

This report is the first output of the project that presents an in-depth analysis of two of three selected policy domains: “professional development of teachers and other education professionals” and “curriculum and learning resources” and has been developed by the OECD in collaboration with the UNESCO International Institute for Education Planning. The report will be valuable for Moldova and other countries that are looking to strengthen their school systems.

The Republic of Moldova (Moldova hereafter) has made digitalisation a policy priority. The country is currently preparing its Digital Transformation Strategy 2023-30, which will emphasise digital literacy, as well as digital business skills, with a view to improving private sector competitiveness. Digitalisation has already brought significant benefits to Moldova, where ICT has been one of the most dynamic sectors over the past years; yet Moldovan firms in non IT sectors remain at the beginning of their digitalisation journey. Skills shortages are a major barrier in that regard, particularly affecting SMEs who encounter more difficulties in attracting and retaining skilled workers, as well as up skilling or reskilling their workforces.

Building on previous OECD work on digitalisation policies, the OECD provided guidance to Moldova throughout 2022 on how to build a conducive ecosystem and set the right policies to further advance the development and uptake of digital business skills among SMEs. This report presents an overview of those issues, looking at 1) the institutional and policy framework; 2) skills assessment and anticipation tools; and 3) SME specific support for digital skills development.

The institutions that make up the centre of government (CoG) play a crucial role in the policymaking process and help to ensure that government decisions are timely, evidence-informed, strategic and consistent. Despite this prominent role, the CoG often has the reputation of being somewhat opaque in terms of its structure and ways of working. This report presents an overview of the role and functions of the CoG of five European Neighbourhood Policy East countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine – from a comparative perspective, both with respect to each other and in comparison with CoGs in OECD and EU countries. The report explores the CoG’s role in policy co-ordination, how it supports quality decision making, its contribution to strategic planning and its role in managing European integration issues. The report highlights strengths and challenges in the ways that the CoG institutions operate in the five countries and suggests areas for which policy dialogue and exchange of experience with OECD and EU Members could help to enhance outcomes.

Russia’s war against Ukraine is causing a humanitarian, social and economic crisis for the Ukrainian people. The consequences of this full-scale military invasion are disrupting the global supply of commodities, sharply increasing food and energy prices, and threating the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries with established commercial and financial ties with the economies of Russia and Ukraine appear to be particularly vulnerable.

Assessing the Impact of Russia’s War against Ukraine on Eastern Partner Countries investigates the exposure of Eastern Partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) to the economic shocks caused by the war, and in particular through the impact that the conflict is having on inflation, migration, remittances, investment and trade.

This report is published as part of the multi-country project “EU4Business: From Policies to Action – phase 2”, implemented in the Eastern Partnership with the financial support of the European Union within the EU4Business initiative.

Moldova is largely dependent on fossil fuel and electricity imports, with the vast majority of its natural gas imports coming from the Russian Federation. Moldova has made considerable efforts to diversify their supply sources and increase the security of both electricity and gas supply. Further integration with Europe for both gas and electricity imports is ongoing as Moldova prioritises moving away from Russian sources of energy. The March 2022 emergency synchronisation with ENTSO-E, triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has pushed Moldova closer to full electricity trade with Europe.

Since Moldova signed an Association Agreement with the European Union in 2014, it has been working to adopt core EU legislation. Moldova’s National Energy Strategy for 2030 reflects this work, with key government priorities including: ensuring the security of energy supply; further developing competitive markets and integration on a regional and European level; and ensuring the sustainability of the energy sector while mitigating the effects of climate change. Increasing the share of renewables in Moldova’s energy mix remains key to meeting the country’s priorities as it aims to enhance regional and European integration.

This report assesses the energy sector and the related challenges facing Moldova, and it proposes policy recommendations to improve energy security, support the development of free and competitive energy markets, and accelerate its transition to a more sustainable, clean and efficient energy system.

Since the 1990’s, the countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) have made great progress in pursuing economic development that is also environmentally sustainable. The countries, in collaboration with the GREEN Action Task Force hosted by the OECD, has developed a number of policies aiming to improve environmental quality and social well-being, while creating opportunities for strong economic growth and decent jobs in the region.

This report was prepared as the OECD contribution to the ninth “Environment for Europe” (EfE) Conference (5-7 October 2022). In this context, this report aims to: (i) take stock of progress on policy developments towards a green economy in the EECCA countries; (ii) showcase selected contributions from of the Green Action Task Force that integrate environmental and climate considerations into development pathways of the EECCA countries, and mobilise finance for action; and (iii) provide an outlook for the future, including priority actions that the Task Force in co-operation with the EECCA countries should take to enhance the momentum for green economy transition in the region.

This pilot monitoring report assesses Moldova’s anti-corruption framework and practices based on the criteria to test the new methodology for the 5th round of monitoring under the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan. The report analyses Moldova’s anti-corruption policy, including the development of an evidence-based anti-corruption strategy, adoption of legislative provisions and establishment of dedicated bodies responsible for the enforcement of these provisions. For each area of analysis, the report identifies areas for improvement and provides recommendations. 

This roadmap starts with an overview of the prevailing institutional framework related to the renewables and electricity sectors respectively, and the related policy landscape. The wider context of both the renewables and electricity sectors in Moldova is then outlined. This is followed by the body of the roadmap, which focuses on: Removing barriers to the deployment of renewables; Establishing flexible electricity markets with enhanced regional co-ordination; Enhancing technical flexibility of the power system. In these three focus areas, a substantial amount of knowledge, experience and expertise has already been accrued by other countries and regions in their own energy transitions.

This roadmap therefore provides relevant examples from international experiences with a view to providing an idea of the possibilities for Moldova.

The roadmap outlines specific policies and actionable items in order to apply these international best practice examples, taking into account the particular characteristics of the Moldovan electricity system. Finally, these recommended actions are put in a co ordinated package of measures to be implemented for a vision of a secure, clean and modern electricity supply generated from domestic VRE sources. This includes a timeline of measures to be targeted over three distinct periods in the short-, medium- and long-term to deliver this modern electricity system, and in turn provide the social, economic and environmental benefits from Moldova’s clean energy transition.

Countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have clear aspirations to strengthen civic participation and increase prosperity for all. A highly skilled and knowledgeable population is critical to achieving these goals, which makes creating and maintaining high quality and equitable education systems a vital part of regional development efforts. Results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show that learning outcomes in the region have generally improved, but that the improvement has not been equitable. While countries in the region are producing some of the top performing students in the world, many other students are being left behind.

This report, jointly developed by OECD and UNICEF, analyses PISA data in detail to identify the strengths, challenges and unique features of education systems in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Drawing upon a rich knowledge base of education policy and practice in the region, it makes recommendations about how systems in the region can provide an excellent education for all students. This report will be of interest to regional policy-makers as well as individuals who wish to learn more about education in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The OECD has been working on water policy reform in the countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia for over 20 years. Three of the countries within the region, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine have signed Association Agreements with the European Union. These agreements provide a framework for deeper political ties and stronger economic links with the EU and include commitments for approximation towards EU legislation including the Water Framework Directive.

Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine have ambitious long-term strategic plans for their water sectors, which include fulfilment of requirements under the Association Agreements and international commitments including the Sustainable Development Goals. The water policy outlooks baseline the country policy framework and current performance and then define the long-term vision and aspirations to 2030. The outlooks aim to demonstrate the likelihood of the current policy framework to achieve the long-term objectives and desired future state of the water sector, and include identification of opportunities for improving policy coherence and policies that have the opportunity to improve the likelihood of success.