Former Ambassador Pamela Hyde Smith Speeches

Ambassador Pamela Hyde Smith's Remarks at the opening of Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) Conference

April 7, 2003

Mr. President, Mr. Minister, Ms. Campbell, distinguished researchers and scientists, and fellow participants: I am honored and grateful to be here today, and to participate in the opening of this week-long "Institutional Building Conference" sponsored by the Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) and the Moldovan Research and Development Association (MRDA). This conference highlights the close relations between our two governments, as well as the close collaboration between these outstanding research organizations.

One of the most important objectives of the U.S. Embassy is to promote long-term, fruitful ties between our governments, institutions, and individuals. Cooperation between CRDF and MRDA contributes to this effort on all three levels. I am pleased that this cooperation has developed to include experts from various CIS countries. This conference offers a unique opportunity for colleagues from Moldova, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kazakstan and the Kyrgyz Republic to meet and share ideas on how competitive funding of science can help their respective countries remain vibrant contributors to the international scientific community. MRDA's willingness to host this meeting reflects its understanding of an important point: countries facing similar challenges are much stronger working as a group than they could ever be as individual countries.

MRDA accounts for approximately 70% of CRDF funding in Moldova, and total CRDF activities here, in turn, represent a small part of overall U.S. Government assistance to Moldova. In this contxt, I want to hightlight that MRDA's work in Moldova is a very important aspect in the development of Moldovan civil society. Through its commitment to a transparent review process for all of its competitions, MRDA upholds values that support a free market and a democratic society.

MRDA's activities help keep Moldova's most precious resource, its intellectual talent, at home where it can best contribute to the economic development of Moldova. MRDA and CRDF have succeeded in engaging former weapons scientists and assisting their transition to civilian research. These efforts have included identifying specific former weapons institutions for inclusion in programs. MRDA has been forward-thinking by actively recruiting and supporting the next generation of scientists and engineers in Moldova, creating programs that target junior researchers.

A great deal of MRDA's success stems from the commitment of Minister Duca and his staff, and I congratulate you for your fine work.

The U.S. Government is pleased to have an opportunity to be a part of this collaboration, and to support it and we look forward to seeing the results of the conference. Thank you, and best wishes for a successful conference.