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Home > Agenda Med > Facilitate Euromed trade and investments in the agrifood sector 
Facilitate Euromed trade and investments in the agrifood sector
Workshops were planned to promote and facilitate international cooperation between companies belonging to affected geographical areas (EU and Northern Africa), in agrifood sector. As known, the European Commission adopted past 16th September a draft decision on an EU-Morocco bilateral trade agreement for agrifood and fisheries products. Still it has to passes to the Council and the European Parliament for approval but in any case this is obviously a question of time: sooner or later this or a similar agreement will have to be signed. As it is drafted right now (need to be confirmed by the Council and the European Parliament) the agreement will provide the immediate liberalisation of 55% of imports from Morocco and at the same time will reinforce the position of European exporters on the Moroccan market. Over the next ten years full liberalisation of most products is planned. This situation creates a great cooperation opportunity that nevertheless needs information, training and know-how for both Moroccan and EU SMEs regarding marketing approach strategies and legal issues in agrifood sector (mainly for Moroccan SMEs) and investment opportunities in Morocco, mainly for EU SMEs. Main target were Moroccan companies potentially interested in knowing from European experts their opinion about marketing approach to the EU market, food safety requirements in the EU and financial support for investments in Morocco. Three workshops were developed by experts in the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services of Casablanca premises on September 29th, 2010, and attended by 35 companies. It tackled the three subjects below:
1-International Marketing and approach to EU market § Strategy, structure and evolution of the modern European distribution § Agriculture, industry and distribution relationships § The role of the multinational companies in the agrifood internationalisation § European policies on feeding and the new international agreements
2-Food safety. Importing requirements, alert systems and traceability in the EU § Importing food products to the EU § Fast alert system § Food safety legislation § Traceability and General Law on food sector
3-Investment and financial supporting opportunities in Morocco for SMEs cooperation and internationalisation
The workshops were highly appreciated by the 35 attending companies, as proved in the evaluation forms filled in by them.
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The Invest in Med programme aims at developing sustainable trade relationships, investments and enterprise partnerships between the two rims of the Mediterranean. Funded at 75% by the European Union over the 2008-2011 period, it is implemented by the MedAlliance consortium, which associates economic development organisations (ANIMA, leader of the programme), CCIs (ASCAME, EUROCHAMBRES), and business federations (BUSINESSMED). The members of these networks, as well as their special partners (UNIDO, GTZ, EPA Euroméditerranée, World Bank, etc.), gather a thousand of economic actors - mobilised through pilot initiatives centered on key Mediterranean promising niches. Each year, a hundred operations associate the 27 countries of the European Union and 9 Mediterranean partner countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria and Tunisia.