Ion ȘTEFANOVICI, President of CAPDR: „VIA MOLDAVIA – The Architecture of a Regional Tourist Destination with International Projection | Working Meeting in Chișinău”

Main Ideas of the VIA MOLDAVIA Initiative:

1. Building an Integrated Regional Tourist Destination – VIA MOLDAVIA represents the shared architecture of Romania–Republic of Moldova, based on institutional cooperation and public–private partnership.

2. Common Tourist Routes as an Identity Foundation – The Moldavian Mountains, the Prut and Dniester rivers, with access to the Danube Delta and the Black Sea, form a coherent route supporting a unified destination.

3. Unified Promotion on the International Market – positioning under a common brand increases competitiveness in a global space dominated by well-established and well-funded destinations.

4. The Strategic Role of HoReCa – professionalism, investments, and the ability to understand the need for integrated promotion define the maturity of the hospitality industry in the region.

5. The Economic Principle of the VIA MOLDAVIA Fair – bringing together DEMAND and SUPPLY as a concrete mechanism to generate partnerships, contracts, and commercial flows.

6. Strategic Planning for the First Edition – today’s visit to Palas Iași, together with Radovan, represented a moment of mental planning for the Fair, a stage of clearly configuring the space, flows, and dynamics of the event from May 1–3.

7. Strengthening Institutional Coordination – the working meeting in Chișinău, organized by ADR Chișinău, reinforces cross-border partnership and the harmonization of action directions.

8. Government-Level Support – institutional dialogue with the Romanian Ministry of Economy provides stability and strategic continuity to the program.

9. International Projection of the Destination – promotion in Brussels, European capitals, as well as in Asia and the Middle East positions VIA MOLDAVIA in the global competition of destinations.

10. Territorial Unity as a Competitive Advantage – regional coherence transforms the shared identity into a market force and a vector for sustainable development.

The Extended Moldavia Region is entering a stage of strategic consolidation through the VIA MOLDAVIA program – a joint Romania–Republic of Moldova platform that builds an integrated tourist destination along routes connecting the Moldavian Mountains to the Prut and Dniester rivers, with access to the Danube Delta and the Black Sea – bringing together public administration and the private HoReCa sector in a framework aimed at unified promotion on the international market, where competition among major destinations is direct and intense, and the VIA MOLDAVIA Tourism Fair, organized on the principle of bringing DEMAND and SUPPLY together, becomes the economic instrument through which this strategic vision takes operational form and international projection.

The VIA MOLDAVIA program creates the architecture through which we build a common, coherent, and internationally competitive destination. The initiative brings together public administration, the private sector, and institutional partners in a stable framework focused on concrete results.

I invite #HoReCa representatives from Romania and the Republic of Moldova to pay attention to this stage. The hospitality industry represents the engine of tourism development. Professionalism, investments, and entrepreneurial capacity define the strength of a destination.

HoReCa maturity is reflected in the ability to understand the necessity of unified promotion on the international tourism market, where competition among the world’s major destinations is direct and intense, in a context marked by significant differences in resources and promotional capacity.

In the coming years, alongside the delegation of the Cross-Border Cooperation Center, we will promote the VIA MOLDAVIA destination in Brussels, European capitals, as well as in Asia and the Middle East. We will present a structured, integrated, and institutionally supported offer.

VIA MOLDAVIA represents a unified concept, built on common tourist routes linking the Moldavian Mountains to the Prut and Dniester rivers, and in the south opening perspectives toward the Danube Delta and the Black Sea. Our promotion reflects this coherent regional architecture, this geographical and cultural continuity, this shared identity that transforms the territory into an integrated destination.

Today we visited Palas Iași together with Radovan to mentally sketch the layout for the first edition of the “VIA MOLDAVIA” Tourism Fair, scheduled for May 1–3.

This stage of mental planning involved clearly configuring the space, flows, and dynamics of the event. Preparations are nearly complete.

The Fair’s organizational principle is clear: bringing DEMAND and SUPPLY together. The platform facilitates direct meetings between operators, agencies, investors, and beneficiaries.

The Fair creates commercial connections, strengthens partnerships, and supports concrete contracts. All working meetings include active participation of the private HoReCa sector, which sustains the real dynamics of the hospitality industry.

On Thursday, February 26, 2026, in Chișinău, during the working meeting with Ms. Ana Sandra, Director of the National Tourism Office of the Republic of Moldova, we will harmonize action directions and strengthen the institutional coordination required for this stage. The meeting is organized by the Chisinau Regional Development Agency, a strategic partner of CAPDR in the architecture of cross-border cooperation.

I thank Director Sergiu Brînza for his constant support and for the institutional openness that allows this joint program to be consolidated.

On Monday, February 16, 2026, in Bucharest, during the meeting with Mr. Laurențiu Gîdei, Secretary of State for Tourism at the Ministry of Economy, we reconfirmed the directions of institutional cooperation for the development of the VIA MOLDAVIA program. The support expressed in this discussion provides stability, predictability, and strategic continuity to our initiative.

Tourism reflects a region’s capacity to cooperate, organize, and inspire trust. Moldova has identity, heritage, entrepreneurial energy, and international openness.

We are building a solid regional platform focused on results, cooperation, and global projection.

Territorial unity becomes a competitive advantage.

The shared vision becomes a market force.

VIA MOLDAVIA expresses this direction.