Ion ȘTEFANOVICI: “One Region, One Direction, One Goal – MOLDOVA 2030”
100 economic opportunities for the development of the Moldova Region on the A7 Highway route
We are in the final stage of preparing the Moldova Regional Economic Forum. FERM 2025 is built on the clear foundation of the work and messages conveyed in previous years, with the ultimate goal of achieving MOLDOVA 2030.
July 9–13, 2025, Vatra Dornei ~ 700 participants, 12 panels, 1 direction: A FUNCTIONAL MOLDOVA by 2030.
FERM 2025 is not an event, but a strategic stage in achieving a major national interest objective: MOLDOVA 2030.
This is our commitment: by the end of the decade, the Moldova Region must function based on principles of efficiency, balance, decentralization, and interconnection.
Our message has continuity. In 2024, we stated two strategic truths, which we now reaffirm as the pillars of FERM 2025:
- Eastern Europe must no longer subordinate itself to Western Europe. It is time for Romania and the Moldova Region to define their own development path, based on the economic, historical, and strategic realities of Eastern Europe within the European Union.
- Romania needs profound reform — administrative-territorial and economic — based on the principles of regionalization. This reform must be designed from the bottom up, starting from the realities on the ground — not imposed according to circumstantial interests.
Tangible progress from 2024 to the present
- In 2024, FERM began with 3 pilot panels and 270 participants.
- In 2025, the structure expanded: 12 thematic panels, 700 participants, 1 strategic document.
- Our goal remains MOLDOVA 2030.
Differences in vision are real – and publicly acknowledged
➡ We proposed renegotiating the Regional Program with the European Commission to better reflect the real needs of the Moldova Region.
➡ The leadership of ADR North-East rejected this approach. This difference in vision has been brought to the attention of the Ministry of Development and the Ministry of Investments and European Projects.
> An institutional decision will determine the solution to the deadlock in the 2021–2027 Regional Program for the Moldova Region.
Committed external direction – the East has partners in the Orient
As early as February 2024, we established that Romania and the Extended Moldova Region must clarify their interests in cooperation with China and Central and Eastern Europe.
We have strengthened ties with the Chinese Embassy in Bucharest and the Romanian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Within FERM 2025, we will take another step forward — through cultural projects, trade initiatives, and expertise exchange.
The principles defining FERM 2025
1. MOLDOVA 2030 is the ultimate goal. Everything else is secondary. FERM 2025 is a stage. Progress will be measured annually, and on December 31, 2025, we will have the first major review.
2. Demand and Supply – the dynamic framework of a real economy. FERM 2025 is not a showcase. It is a platform where real demand meets qualified supply in all essential directions of a functional region.
- Public administration expresses needs in infrastructure, healthcare, education, and digitalization.
- The private sector offers solutions, but also has its own needs – workforce, predictability, partnerships.
- Educational and research institutions create bridges between innovation and the market.
But the Demand–Supply principle goes further:
- It is reflected in trade relations between regional companies,
- in the value chains between counties,
- in economic partnerships between the Moldova Region and the rest of Romania,
- in strategic cooperation with the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine,
- and in applied economic diplomacy with Central and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Africa.
These are not just concepts. They are real commercial dossiers that FERM 2025 brings into play simultaneously, through a coordinated and scalable vision tailored to each thematic panel.
Each partner brings an offer. Each region has a demand. FERM is the space where functional balance between them is built.
3. The Multiyear Programmatic Document (DPMRM) – the regional governance instrument
- All opinions collected in FERM are included in the DPMRM
- The document is already 90% structured
- It becomes the working axis for Moldova’s administrations through 2030
Link: https://ferm.capdr.ro/programul-forumului
Real partnerships. Collective responsibility.
Both Bucharest and Chișinău have offered concrete and full support for cooperation within FERM. The presence of representatives from all ministries, as well as institutions from the Republic of Moldova, is a strategic first.
Up next: 12 Panels – 12 vital domains for the future
Starting this week, we will explain each panel individually:
- Main theme
- MOLDOVA 2030 objective in that domain
- Administrative and partnership responsibilities
Conclusion:
FERM 2025 is a disciplined platform for development. It is not a place for promises. It is the place for decisions, directions, and documents that will guide the Moldova Region through 2030.
Ion ȘTEFANOVICI
President of CAPDR
Initiator of FERM
Author of the strategic program MOLDOVA 2030
