Adrian-Ioan Veștea, the Minister of Development, Public Works, and Administration, received an official delegation led by Lilian Carp, the President of the Parliamentary Committee for National Security, Defense, and Public Order of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova at the ministry headquarters.

The discussion topics mainly focused on aspects related to administrative-territorial reform, local development programs, urban policies, transitioning to eco-friendly public transportation, urban mobility, as well as the support provided to the Republic of Moldova by the Romanian Government through the Ministry of Development, in accordance with the Agreement on the implementation of a technical and financial assistance program based on a non-repayable financial aid of 100 million euros.

"Citizen is our priority, which is why we must encourage horizontal cooperation among localities so that they can manage common public policies and apply for integrated development projects for all communities, concerning access to basic services, such as modernizing transportation infrastructure, establishing or rehabilitating utility networks for water supply and sewage, and connecting to natural gas networks," Minister Veștea stated.

In this context, the main legislative changes implemented or under development by the Ministry of Development were mentioned, such as the Urban Policy of Romania, which has already introduced the concept of a complete neighborhood, meaning an urban space where people live, work, and spend leisure time without traveling long distances, leaving the car at home in favor of walking and using public transportation.

Furthermore, this idea of compact development is also found in other legislative initiatives recently promoted by MDLPA, such as sustainable urban mobility through the Law on Urban Mobility.

Last but not least, the Law on Metropolitan Areas aims to create a framework for intercommunity cooperation independent of administrative boundaries, based on functional criteria, to better highlight the interdependencies between major cities and their peri-urban areas.

"However, this type of cooperation relies on voluntary partnerships and depends on local will and initiative, but it is essential for addressing certain dysfunctions and requires a supralocal territorial approach," Minister Veștea concluded.