Photo : D.R.
The Invest in Med program, co-financed by the European Commission and the Med Alliance consortium (Anima, Ascame and eurochambres) is forging ahead. Launched eighteen months ago to stimulate investments in the Mediterranean and strengthen partnerships between economic players on both shores, the project has already implemented 36 cooperation initiatives and 173 meetings (BtoB meetings, training, technical assistance etc.), representing an average of two events a week since October 2008. In total, more than 4,000 participants took part in these operations, mainly companies and Chambers of Commerce.Despite a year 2009 marked by the crisis and the paralysis of the Union for the Mediterranean, the machine destined to kick-start direct foreign investment (DFI) was launched with “unprecedented dynamism,” say the program’s Managers.
Out of the 12 million euros intended for Invest in Med, 88% of the budget has already been allocated. The heart of the program resides above all in the initiatives suggested by the members of the consortium (Commerce International, n°48). Last April, eighteen of these were selected. Amongst them, the Mag-Trace program, led by Umagri (Union of North African Farmers) aims to “develop in Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria, the skills which favour the adoption of a widely adopted system of traceability for agricultural and food products,” explains Manal Tabet, project Manager with Invest in Med. “Technical assistance missions and training have already seen the day and a major trade fair will take place in Tunis on 20 and 21 November next to create technological and commercial partnerships between the economic players of the region,” says Manel Tabet.
Another ambitious initiative, the MovieMed project, launched by the Marseilles-Provence Chamber of Commerce, aims in the long-term to develop the cinema industry in the southern Mediterranean countries, whilst serving as a marketing tool for the development of tourism in the region. “It is a matter of creating partnerships in key sectors,” says Manal Tabet. These sectors are suffering from increasingly tough international competition (textile, tourist, agri-food industries, etc.) and offers from new markets ( 3D services, ‘green’ energy, ITC and so forth). On 8 October last, during Mediterranean Economic Week in Marseilles, Anima and Invest in Med presented two guides on the economic activities of the nine countries benefitting from the program: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The first targets sectors of the future, identifying 25 niche markets with strong potential. The second consists of mapping by sector the main business centres likely to interest entrepreneurs on the northern shores. With a 50 % drop in DFI in 2009 noted by the Anima-Mipo Observatory, the southern Mediterranean countries are expecting a great deal of their European partners. All the more so since IMF forecasts for 2010 estimate growth rates of more than 4 % in most of their southern neighbours. To consult the guides: www.animaweb.org (click on “publications Anima“).
Plato Egypt
Amongst the operations financed by Invest in Med, the sponsorship program
for Egyptian SME managers (Plato Egypt) brings together several partners, piloted by the Belgian Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry: the East Flanders Chamber of Commerce, Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations are all offering practical training courses based on experiences shared between entrepreneurs, under the sponsorship of large companies. From 27 October and up until January 2011, Egyptian SMEs are invited to join Plato, in order to take part in ten monthly discussion workshops on their experiences and management methods. Here again, major companies – Egyptian – will be sponsors.
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