The Medina Med Forum aimed at raising awareness of new opportunities offered by innovative distribution channels (modern retail, e-commerce, franchising), but also by a mere modernisation of existing distribution channels and financing solutions. This workshops also served as kick off meeting for the DISTRIMED 2.♀ inititiative launched by CNFCE-UTICA and enabled the involved partners to initiate the selection process of the businesswomen involved in the furture operations.

Organised in Hammamet, Tunisia, during the female business fair "Expofemina 2010", on March 31st 2010, this meeting was an opportunity to strengthen the business connections between the women entrepreneurs in the Mediterranean region and to facilitate the access to overseas markets.

The works of the Forum began with the welcoming word of the president of the CNFCE which declared: " in a difficult situation, Tunisia is more than ever called to find new niches and other opportunities of exchange, partnership and growth so as to assure the perpetuity of companies and to protect jobs and more particularly those managed by the Women ".

The opening of the Mediterranean Forum and the show “EXPOFEMINA 2010” were assured by Mr Ridha Mosbah Minister of Trade and Crafts.

Two important panels were proposed to the 150 participants in order to support new distribution channels for companies from the Maghreb.

"Regional Integration in the Mediterranean Sea and its impact on the distribution", was the theme presented by Mr Marouene Abassi, economist main private sector, wanting to centre and to emphasize the importance to metalized distribution channels in Mediterranean following the regional integration.

The first panel had dealt with" opportunities and Distribution networks: E-commerce, Franchising and Mass-market retailing", specialists of every circuit came to share their expertise with the participants in this Forum and to answer the questions of the presents.
This panel was enclosed by testimonies of business managers having reached the one or other one of the presented distribution networks.

The 2nd Panel of the Forum concerned the «Modernization of distribution channels and financing ". It was necessary at first to present the importance of the Upgrade of the logistics of Distribution as well as E-logistic. But it was vital to speak about financing of the commercial activity; representatives of important banks were invited to clarify certain questions raised by the participants and to emphasize the tools of financing given of SME in terms of distribution.

The forum was closed by Mrs Lamia Echefai Esghaier, Secretary of State with the Minister of the Technologies of Communication, loaded with the Computing, the Internet and Freeware.

Meeting B2B between Mediterranean participants was organized towards the end of the Forum and on the place of the exhibition "EXPOFEMINA 2010 ", partnerships and potential exchanges were identified further to these B2B …