Soroca rayon Council will collaborate with the State administration of the Yampil rayon (Ukraine) through a Moldovan-Ukrainian cooperation programme, in order to carry out joint actions to capitalize on the tourism potential. In this respect, the team of the project "Rural tourism - a sure step to increase the cross-border cooperation between Soroca and Yampol", implemented by IDIS "Viitorul", organized on 15 and 16 March the workshop "Development of the Moldovan-Ukrainian rural tourism development programme in the cross-border region Soroca-Yampil". The event was attended by representatives of the local administration and tourist services providers from those two rayons.

"The exploitation of local resources is an essential step for the economic development of Soroca and Yampil rayons. These regions can benefit from a common opportunity to capitalize on their tourism potential and increase their living standards by promoting their natural, human and cultural heritage. Thus, the Moldovan-Ukrainian rural tourism development programme in the cross-border region will contribute to the improvement of the public services, will generate new jobs and will attract additional financial resources", said the Project Manager, Liubomir Chiriac.

The Moldovan-Ukrainian rural tourism development programme in the Soroca-Yampil region aims to coordinate the tourism policies of both rayons and to strengthen the capacities of tourism authorities and providers through cross-border cooperation. This will be achieved through a series of joint actions aimed at capitalizing and promoting the tourism potential.

Both the Soroca rayon and the Yampil rayon are territorial administrative units with significant tourist potential, a rich historical heritage, as well as a special interest in the development and promotion of tourism and culture. Thus, the Soroca rayon is famous for the Soroca Fortress and the Rudi and Cosauti localities, where popular craftsmen are known for their works made of stone. And the Yampil region, on the other hand, boasts its natural monuments, unique architectural buildings and cultural and historical reservations.

"The development of the tourism sector in both the Soroca and Yampil rayon is currently uneven and this joint program will strengthen the cooperation we have with the Nistru authorities and will contribute to the protection, development and valorisation of the natural and cultural heritage with which our regions are pride of", mentioned Stela Zabrian, Secretary of the Soroca rayon council.

"Given the similarities of our rayons and the existence of cultural and economic cooperation initiatives, I consider it opportune and necessary to draw up an action plan that will support the authorities and economic agents in promoting tourism services and objectives", believes Liudmila Maiorova, First Deputy Prime-President of the Iampil State Administration.

This cross-border tourism co-operation program envisages the initiation and development of tourism partnership, starting from the fact that both rayons have cultural and reference institutions, historical monuments, and there is a major interest in rural tourism and entrepreneurship.

"Our locality has a rich tourist potential and we have visitors who visit the Monastery of Cosauti, Granite and Gravel Quarry or the Stones Workshops. And considering that Soroca is a cultural center and Yampil has also interesting tourist attractions, it would be nice to have such a program set up to give tourists opportunities to visit our localities", says Aurica Usatiuc, director of the History and EEthnography Museum from the village of Cosauti.

"In our region, we have many tourist attractions that we can pride, which, unfortunately, few people know. And with the help of this project, we hope to succeed in highlighting what we have most beautiful. Also, many inhabitants of Yampil would be delighted to visit the objectives from the Soroca rayon, and vice versa, especially if a bridge was built over the Dniester", says Elena Greceniuc from the State Committee of the Radio and Television Section of Yampil.

And Emilia Lupascu, director of the Cultural House in Rudi believes that rural tourism could develop due to a good infrastructure: "It is difficult to reach the objectives in the village of Rudi, such as" The Turkish Plate "or" The Cave of the Remnants”. And for this reason, the infrastructure for access to these destinations should be improved first. In this way, we will attract tourists from all over the world”.

The project "Rural tourism - a sure step to increase the cross-border cooperation between Soroca and Yampol" is implemented by IDIS "Viitorul", in partnership with the Soroca Rayon Council and the Yampil Rayon Administration (Ukraine). The project is co-funded by the European Union in the framework of the Moldova-Ukraine Eastern Partnership Territorial Cooperation Support Programme (EaPTC).

For more information, please contact the Press Officer of the project, Ana - Maria Veverita: ana.veverita@viitorul.org or by phone (0 22) 221844.