In the framework of the Mediterranean Business Partnership initiative, UNIDO office in Marseille has organized during last March and April a first technical assistance phase, willing to establish know-how transfer to actors from South Mediterranean Countries in charge of investment and technology promotion and also in order to identify with their assistance partnership projects promoted by local companies.

Training modules on UNIDO investment promotion methodology have been established specially to each one of the local agencies partners of this initiative and whose main goal is to promote inward investments : ANDI (Agence Nationale de Développement de l’Investissement), in Algeria, IDA (Industrial Developement Authority), in Egypt, AMDI (Agence Marocaine de Développement des Investissements) in Morocco and UMAGRI (Union Maghrébine des Agriculteurs), in Tunisia.

Those training sessions, of 3 to 6 days, including companies and facilities visits, have beneficiated junior experts from those institutions. Evaluated very positively, this operation has brought solutions to their practical needs and international standards to improve their practices – a know-how transfer has been indeed operated and will still have good impact to others staff members. Also thanks to this action, 57 SME and main groups from those countries have been evaluated and their projects selected to a big promotion in Europe.