evidoria

← Back to browse

Good practice Imported

PARE 1+1 — Moldova's Diaspora Remittance-Matching Programme for Returnee Entrepreneurs

Moldova · Chișinău · See the Moldova profile · See the Chișinău profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 54% 67/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Moldova matches migrant remittances invested in a new business leu-for-leu with a state grant. Since 2010 it backed 739 businesses and drew 564 migrants home, with 84% outside the capital, though an IOM-linked evaluation flagged weak impact tracking.

739
New businesses launched (2010-2021)
564
Migrants who returned to start a business (2010-2021)
84 %
Ventures located outside Chisinau (2010-2021)
48.7 %
Entrepreneurs under 35 (2010-2021)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Organization for Small and Medium Enterprises Sector Development (ODIMM), Government of the Republic of Moldova
Period
2010–present
Keywords
diaspora return, remittance-matched grants, SME development, rural entrepreneurship

Context

PARE 1+1 (Programme for Attracting Remittances into the Economy) is run by Moldova's Organization for Small and Medium Enterprises Sector Development (ODIMM) and matches money that Moldovan migrant workers send home for business investment with an equal grant from the state -- one leu from the diaspora matched with one leu of public funding, up to a set ceiling, for a new or expanding small business.

Activities

The programme targets diaspora members willing to invest remittances in launching or expanding a small business in Moldova, with ODIMM administering the matching grants.

Results

Government figures for 2010-2021 show 739 new businesses launched through the programme (41.6% of all beneficiaries), including 564 cases where a migrant worker returned to Moldova specifically to start the business. Nearly half of entrepreneurs (48.7%) were under 35, and 84% of ventures were located outside Chisinau, in towns and villages, with 60-70% concentrated in the agrifood sector. The government extended the programme for a further three years in recognition of continued diaspora take-up.

Conclusions

An evaluation conducted for the International Organization for Migration by a Columbia University SIPA capstone team, based on two assessment missions, found the programme lacked robust post-investment monitoring and recommended stronger support for business survival and better measurement of long-term impact -- a caution that the reported business counts likely overstate durable job creation.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — State funding matches diaspora remittance investment one-to-one up to a set ceiling per business; aggregate programme cost across 739 businesses is not itemised in the available sources.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Running continuously since 2010; extended by the government for a further three years as of the most recent reporting.
Staffing & skills
ODIMM (Organization for Small and Medium Enterprises Sector Development) programme administration, International Organization for Migration (evaluation commissioning), Columbia University SIPA capstone evaluation team (independent assessment)

Conditions for success

  • A simple one-to-one matching-grant formula (one leu of diaspora remittance matched by one leu of state funding) that is easy for migrants to understand and access
  • A sustained, multi-cycle national commitment (extended repeatedly since 2010) rather than a single grant round
  • A rural/regional targeting effect that channels investment outside the capital (84% of ventures outside Chisinau)

Common failure modes

  • Post-investment monitoring is weak, per the IOM-commissioned Columbia SIPA evaluation, so business survival and durable job creation beyond the initial grant are not reliably tracked
  • The absolute scale (739 businesses over 12 years) is modest relative to Moldova's diaspora and economy

Where it fits

Governance type
national government agency (ODIMM)
Scale
national (Moldova)
Income level
lower-middle-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Similar practices you may find useful

★ 91

TRIEC Mentoring Partnership

Canada

Since 2004, Toronto's TRIEC Mentoring Partnership has logged 27,000+ mentoring matches for skilled immigrants; an independent, federally funded evaluation found …