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Invest in Med was a key player of the Mediterranean Economic Week in Marseilles from October 7th to 10th 2009
The third edition of the Mediterranean Economic Week (www.semaine-eco-med.com)  gathered about 2000 experts and actors of economic development in the Mediterranean. Invest in Med cofinanced three major events involving various networks members.  ANIMA gathered a hundred experts – including ASCAME, EIB, WB, CEPS, French UfM secretariat - around the MedAlliance round table on the financing and technical accompaniment of enterprises in the Mediterranean. CCI Marseilles-Provence organised 500 BtoB meetings between 200 companies of the two rims and launched MedBusiness Network, a network gathering CCI Marseilles Provence, the French CCI in the Maghreb and their partners of the Mediterranean: www.medbusiness-network.com TEXTECHMed and Cité Euro-méditerranéenne de la Mode organised a first relation-making event: BtoB, Research to Business and Investors to Business. This initiative aims at enabling multi-actor partnerships in the textile for technical applications’ sector. Two Presidents of MedAlliance networks, Laïla Sbiti for ANIMA and Murat Yalcintas for ASCAME, presented Invest in Med at these events as well as at other conferences.Last but not least, this week was a perfect moment to present a new service developed in the framework of Invest in Med: Agenda Med, the Mediterranean business events calendar: www.agendamed.biz  

SMEs: MedAlliance presents its position of major partner of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM)
On October 8th in Marseilles, the MedAlliance Round table of on the financing and technical accompaniment of enterprises in the Mediterranean came at the right moment to discuss the recent developments of the initiative for the development of SMEs, launched by UfM, with representatives of the French Co-presidency of the Union for the Mediterranean and the European Investment Bank. The outcome of the discussions comforted the MedAlliance networks (about 400 economic development organisations, chambers of commerce and federations of enterprises joined together in the consortium leading Invest in Med) in their legitimacy to mobilise, inform and accompany technically the companies of the two Mediterranean rims. Since 2002, ANIMA Investment Network indeed publishes guides and observatories to accompany SMEs and to bring them closer to the investors in the Mediterranean. This work has continued and progressed within the framework of the Invest in Med programme: smart matchmaking, BtoB meeting, assistance to access the appropriate financing, coaching of young entrepreneurs and observatory of investment funds in the region. Most recently the Meda Finance Guide, successfully launched on October 1st in Cairo, lists 22 billion dollars of credit lines available for Mediterranean SMEs. “We will not create a structure working in parallel with existing ones” stated Julien Aubert, the representative of the French Co-presidency in reference to the future instrument in charge of SMEs within the UfM. Furthermore, the vice president of the European Investment Bank specified the contents of what could be the UfM tool kit for SMEs. The relating feasibility study is in the course of completion: guarantees, loans in local currency, investment in capital, technical assistance and micro-finance. Regarding the institutional aspect, Philippe de Fontaine Vive recommended a co federal model based on the association of the existing initiatives. In echo on these subjects, the members of MedAlliance took the opportunity, throughout the day, to present their best practices as regards accompaniment of SMEs with regional schemes, on various issues such as the activity of business angel, the assistance with the creation of company, the hemp with the internationalisation of enterprises, the transnational industrial partnerships, the co-investment in capital or the legal and financial advise.

The Med Tracking consortium organised a meeting in Roma and Civitavecchia the September 30th, 2009. This meeting aimed to syntheize feedbacks from end-users on the thematic of secure transport of the containers in Mediterranean sea. More than 30 principal actors from Morocco, Italia, Turkey and France were associated in this workshop, in particular the harbours of Civitavecchia, Istanbul, Marseille and Tanger, some competitiveness clusters focused on sea issues and companies involved in this field (Telespazio, AXA, Thalès, etc).

The technopark of Monastir-El Fejja, Tunisian partner of TexTechMed project, participated in international salon “Zoom by Fatex” which took place in Paris from 15 to 18 September 2009. MFC Pole promoted the project among a huge number of European and Mediterranean companies operating in complementary sectors (weaving, finishing, technical textile, support services, etc.).

On October 8th, 2009 in Marseille, in the framework of annual events of the Cité Euro-méditerranéenne de la Mode, TexTechMed partners managed to develop exchanges and partnership between Euromed actors of Textile for technical applications through moiré than 200 business meetings organized around 3 axes : Business to Business involving big companies as Printemps, Rhodia, Soofileta; Research to Business with more than 10 engineering schools, clusters  and Universities involved; Investors to Business with players like BA Euromed, FIPA, TEXnet.

During MIAC, international exhibition of paper industry in Lucca, a PaperMed kick off meeting was held to define the coming activities and workshops and bring up the project to the sector enterprises, main institutions and main paper sector representatives. More than 30 stakeholders attended this event, visited the “Fabio Perini S.p.a” factopry, and pre-identified potential smart euromediterranean partnerships in the paper industry. The next step is a B2B planned mid January in Algeria.

The Euro-Mediterranean Business Meetings “Tech fruits et légumes” that will take place in Avignon on December 7 and 8, 2009 offer a unique opportunity to get information and develop commercial, technological and scientific partnerships in the fresh and processed Fruit and Vegetable Industry. To date, French, Moroccan, Egyptian, Lebanese, Tunisian, Israeli, Algerian enterprises and leaders have already confirmed their participation. What about you? To register, please contact: Ms. Antonella Donadio: entreprises-agroalimentaire@ccif-marseille.com

The Med-women entrepreneurship initiative will coordinate a workshop on Women’s investments in the Mediterranean during the first International meeting of the Arab women entrepreneurs in Rabat, from october 26 to October 30. This Invest in Med initiative is also participating to the MEDA Women Entrepreneurs Forum, organised by the ASCAME & AFAEMME during economic week in Barcelona the 2nd and 3rd November 2009.

The organisation of the large B2B within the framework 6th edition of the NABDF, is aiming to reinforce the regional economic cooperation, in some identified key sectors for the economic development of the Med region: car industry, textile, banking system, health and ICT, by facilitating the trade flow and concrete partnership opportunities, between the two regions

The MEDA CITY Forum 2009 (1st edition) offers a new place for dialogue between the organisations of chambers of commerce and Mediterranean cities, as well as the representatives of the international organisations working in the Med region.

Women entrepreneurs from Maghreb will meet each other in a workshop organised by Carrefour du Maghreb. In the framework of the international new information's technologies exhibition of Casablanca, Maghrebin associations of women entrepreneurs will exchange with local participants and the other mobilized participants from ICT sector.

The objective of the workshop is to provide a forum for knowledge exchange and discussion of ideas between Euro-Med enterprises, institutions and experts from the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency.   The “Workshop on Mediterranean development potentials in energy field and environment” will be an activity of exchange and institutional relations where representatives of institutional and economic partners will be invited.

This B2B’s objective is to connect and encourage partnerships and information exchange between enterprises within the Euro-Med zone, operating in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors.  The 2-day B2B will take place in Palermo with the participation of 75 Italian, Spanish, Tunisian and Egyptian enterprises, with a total of 800 programmed meetings.

The MEDA BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURS WOMEN Forum 2009 (1st edition) offers a place for dialogue and networking between women entrepreneurs of the Euro-med region.

German experience in work-study training to Tunisian partner. A technical assistance mission aiming at developing the appropriate services to convince Tunisian enterprises to welcome work-study training will be carried out within the Tunisian business federation (UTICA).

Business Meetings will be organised in the frame of Israel's prime event in water-related business and technologies, the WATEC Exhibition 2009, which brings together leading international and domestic firms in the sector. It will gather 30 companies from Morocco, Egypt, Catalonia and Italy in a unique place for showcasing water technologies and expertise, while uncovering further opportunities for regional cooperation within the sector.

This workshop aims at defining the outline of a Med-Tracking system from the data and the information collected during workshops for end-users organised earlier in 2009. The exchanges are centred on problems linked to the security of the transport of the products, to the management and the competitiveness and in the long term to the management and the regulation in the Euro-Mediterranean zone.

Thirty companies from the Euro-Mediterranean region will have dedicated meetings at the International Exhibition on Agriculture, Machinery and Fishing (18/22 November 2009) with a hundred Tunisian agricultural societies. The Maghreb agribusiness sector will meet with European buyers and producers, to export quality products.

UMAGRI organises - in the framework of SIAMAP 2009 - a meeting for best practices' exchange on traceability between the two banks of the Mediterranean area. The representatives of Agribusiness National Associations from Spain, France, Italy, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt will explore in Tunis the opportunities for cooperation and partnership.

This seminar will be held in Bizerte during November 2009 between  representatives of the European Fruit and Vegetable Innovation Cluster of Avignon, of the Agri-Food Cluster of Bizerte, of the CCIFM and of the Techno-Cluster of Parma (SSICA). It will lead to the assessment of the technological situation of the cluster of Bizerte.

This workshop aims at defining the outline of a Med-Tracking system from the data and the information collected during workshops for end-users organised earlier in 2009. The exchanges are centred on problems linked to the security of the transport of the products, to the management and the competitiveness and in the long term to the management and the regulation in the Euro-Mediterranean zone. 

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. www.invest-in-med.eu