The money is destined for the country’s Local Roads Improvement Project, which will support the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure to provide safe and sustainable local road accessibility to education, health and market facilities along selected corridors in one of Europe’s poorest countries.

Alex Kremer, World Bank country manager for Moldova, said: “Moldova’s demographic realities and the income gap with its European Union neighbours means that roads should be urgently modernised to facilitate Moldovans’ better access to public services and economic opportunities to support sustainable and inclusive development.”

He also emphasised the importance of transport infrastructure for export-driven growth and economic competitiveness in a country bordering the largest market in the world ‒ the EU.

Better local roads will grant the country’s rural population’s access to quality health and education services and play a critical role for the agricultural sector.

Farms and farm workers in Moldova face some of the highest poverty rates in the country at around 40%. The Local Roads Improvement Project hopes to alleviate this by enhancing linkages between farms and markets and creating additional economic opportunities for agricultural workers.