Chisinau – Ten Moldovan emigrants who left the country 10 to 20 years ago returned on 17 April 2018 to present to the Moldovan Government five public policy proposals. The policy proposals aim to advance Moldova’s development agenda in justice, public health, economy, environment protection and diaspora relations.

The policy proposals were developed under the Diaspora Excellence Groups programme – implemented by IOM and the so-called Diaspora Relations Bureau. The mechanism of consulting highly skilled Moldovan emigrants was tested and is ready to be taken over and continued by the Moldovan Government.

“Moldovan scientists and scholars who left the country in the 1990s and built great careers abroad are an unexplored resource of development. They acquired an insight that can be used to respond multiple challenges that Moldova faces,”said Ghenadie Cretu, Migration and Development Programme Coordinator, IOM Moldova.

After 23 years of working in the US, Dr. Ian Toma, Assistant Director for Genomic Clinical Research, George Washington University, proposed to create the Centre of Excellence in Biomedical Research in Moldova. The Centre will enable Moldovan medical workers, computer sciences specialists and students to digitalize medical data so it can be used for medical research to study such diseases as TB, HIV, and third- and fourth-stage cancer.

“We reckon that by establishing the Biomedical Centre we will create job opportunities in a new field for Moldova such as bio-informatics and bio-medical research, which will also prevent young medical workers from emigrating,” added Dr. Toma. For more information about the highly skilled experts involved in the Diaspora Excellence Groups, click here.

The Governmental programme Diaspora Excellence Groups is part of the Diaspora Engagement Hub which is implemented by the Diaspora Relations Bureau and IOM Moldova within the “Enhancing the development of Moldova through engagement with diaspora-homeland partnerships” project, which is funded by the IOM Development Fund.

For more pictures from the event, please click here.

For more information, please contact Iulia Tvigun, IOM Moldova, Email: itvigun@iom.int.