During his stay, Mr Matsuura held talks with Mr Vladimir Voronin, President of the Republic; Mr Vasile Tarlev, Prime Minister; Mr Valerian Cristea, Deputy Prime Minister responsible for Education and Culture; Mr Andrei Stratan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Integration; Mr Artur Cozma, Minister of Culture and Tourism; and Mr Victor Tvircun, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports; as well as with Mr Bruno Pouezat, UNDP Resident Representative and UN Coordinator in the Republic of Moldova. Ambassador Andrei Neguta, Permanent Delegate of Moldova to UNESCO, accompanied the Director-General throughout this visit.

UNESCO, in cooperation with UNICEF and UNDP, has assisted the authorities of Moldova in the preparation of the EFA National Strategy and National Action Plan aiming to identify and prioritise the country’s education needs and better define target areas for development policies in regard to EFA. The Director-General expressed his satisfaction about the recent inclusion of the Republic of Moldova among the countries of the World Bank-led Fast Track Initiative for 2005, which will facilitate obtaining donor funding for the country’s education needs. Mr Matsuura said that apart from UNESCO’s Office in Moscow, UNESCO will henceforth extend its assistance to Moldova through its European Centre for Higher Education (CEPES) in Bucharest.

Mr Matsuura informed the authorities of his intention to strengthen UNESCO’s cooperation with Moldova in the field of culture, mobilizing UNESCO’s Office in Venice in addition to UNESCO’s Moscow Office, in particular as concerns the preparation of candidatures for inclusion to the World Heritage List. The Director-General highlighted the importance of cultural heritage in the development of cultural tourism and underscored the need to raise awareness, especially among young people, about the necessity of protecting heritage.

Finally, the Director-General encouraged the authorities of Moldova to participate in the Organization’s activities in the region of South-East Europe. He referred to the conference of Ministers of Culture of South-East Europe to be organized in Venice in November 2005 by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage.

Before leaving Moldova, the Director-General visited the site of Orheiul Vechi, the Monastery of Kapriana and the wine growing complex of Cricova.