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More than 140 business organizations applying to Invest in Med projects
36 initiatives, gathering more than 140 business organizations eager to develop Euro-Med business projects have been submitted in the 3rd Invest in Med request for initiatives closed on November 18. 22 countries are involved, projects leader being equally spread between Europe and Mediterranean partner countries. We welcome more participation from Mashreq countries (notably Syria, Lebanon), and new European partners (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, the Netherlands and Portugal). The main sectors targeted are energy efficiency and renewable energy, SME access to finance, distribution & logistics, health, drugs & cosmetics. Around 10 projects will be selected mid January 2010.

Lucca Promos will support 10 enterprises already involved in PaperMed and promote this project in PAPEREX December 4-7 at New Delhi, India which is the main exhibition of paper sector in the whole Asia (30,000 visitors from 41 Countries, and 382 exhibiting enterprises hosted).

In the framework of EnviroFoodTech project, 150 business meetings took place among Syrian, Palestinian, Egyptian, Italian and Spanish companies in Parma on October 29 and 30 in the food processing sector.

TexTechMed presented its project of a shared prototyping platform and identified links and cooperation opportunities with other national and European projects during the International Conference on Intelligent Textiles and Mass customization held in Casablanca (Morocco) on November 12-14.

In the framework of Made in Euromed project, German business federations have carried out a technical assistance mission to assist the UTICA (Tunisian business confederation) in shaping up a new strategy to promote work-study programmes among Tunisian SMEs. A follow up workshop is planned at the end of February 2010.

The Med Water project supported the participation of 73 companies and managed around 350 BtoB meetings among European and Med companies specialised in water treatment in the WATEC Fair from November 17 to 19 in Tel Aviv.

Around 75 Tunisian, Egyptian and Italian businesses met in Palermo on November 5, for a total of 350 meetings at the Medenergy B2B Event. The day before, a workshop on investment opportunities in Egypt and Tunisia, in the field of alternative and renewable energies was held.

Two experts from the Cairo branch of COPCA traveled to Tlemcen to work with the team of the CCI TAFNA for the identification of key sectors and investment opportunities of this region. An attractiveness guide will be published by CCI of Tafna by mid 2010.

The CJD - UTICA, leader of the initiative Invest in Med " Young entrepreneurs Let’s invest in Med " and their partners organised a training on multicultural management, business meetings and a workshop on innovation from September 28 to October 2. This event gathered young entrepreneurs from Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Belgium.

20 heads of small and medium enterprises members of the Algerian diaspora in France met heads of the government, banks and business federations in Algiers on October 25 and 26 to work on their investment projects and discuss on the existing business framework in Algeria. 2 million Algerian expatriates could potentially invest in Algeria, the main sectors identified being agro-industry, building and construction, environment, tourism, and ICT.

Following the forum held in Cairo on October 1, 2009, Invest in Med offers the Meda Finance Guidebook to the enterprises and the partners of the programme. Over 120 national or regional instruments targeted at supporting SMEs are described in practical fiches, totaling more than 22 billion euros of available funding. The guide can be downloaded.

Led by the Algerian Chamber of Commerce (CACI), GTZ and the Network of Maghreb Enterprises for the Environment (REME), a delegation of 20 economic actors and entrepreneurs participated in more than 200 business meetings and organized several workshops on opportunities for investment in the building insulation sector in Maghreb during BATIMAT, in Paris from November 2 to 7 .

The project "Med women entrepreneurship" organized par AFEM Morocco is taking an international dimension: new sponsor (CIREM-Spain), workshop on "ICT and women entrepreneurship" gathering 90 women entrepreneurs from Morocco, France, Belgium, Egypt, Lebanon, Algeria on November 3, participation in the Global Entrepreneurship Week on November 17 and  the participation in the global business women forum organized by OECD on November 22 in Marrakech.

The Magtrace initiative, focused on the transfer of food traceability know-how between mediterranean farmers’ associations, completed its last activity last November 22, during the SIAMAP 2009 Fair in Tunisia. More than 60 Euro-Mediterranean enterprises have participated to workshops and BtoB meetings on food security. UMAGRI and the REME (Network of Maghreb Enterprises for the Environment) are currently discussing a partnership agreement in order to develop a second phase of MagTrace.

On December 16 in Brussels, the Euro-Arab Chambers of Commerce organise a workshop to set up the next EuroMed Ministerial Meeting on tourism, scheduled in May 2010, in Spain. Union Camere will present the Best Med initiative to promote the development of eco-sustainable tourism in the Mediterranean.

ANDI will ‘facilitate contacts among national and foreign leaders of investment projects which will be associated with local promoters’.

A new wind power park, with an expected production of 250 megawatts, will be built on the west bank of the Gulf of Suez.

Consulting firm WorleyParsons will be in charge of preparing the implementation of the first Jordanian nuclear power plant by providing technology and engineering assistance. The company will set up the tender and evaluate future bidders.

This Fund will support from 10 to 15% of the global budget of clean energy projects which reduce the emission of greenhouse gas in the fields of wind power, energy efficiency and transport.

Syria expects to double its electricity production in 2015. Private sector will be involved in public electricity corporation to meet new Syrian electricity needs.

In line with the Mediterranean Solar Plan initiative and other programmes supported by the Global Environment Fund (GEF) and  the World Bank, Tunisia will implement a national solar plan.

"Oyak Renault automobile factories will start producing the electric powered model "Fluence" at the end of 2010", Turkey's Trade and Industry Minister Nihat Ergun declared recently.

Algerian banks BDL and BNA have joined forces to create the new institution, which will support the government's efforts for the funding of local SMEs.

'The Palestinian telecommunications market has strong prospects for growth and will contribute to the wider growth of the economy', Qtel's representatives declared two days ago.

The European Union's Council of Ministers confirmed the signing of an agreement that liberalise trade between Egypt and the EU for agricultural, processed agricultural, and fish and fishery products.

Lower unemployment rate over the last 3 months, jump of 25% for exportation during the 3rd quarter 2009, a public deficit more limited  thanks to a good tax discipline, the growth is back in Israel during the 3rd quarter.

A draft-agreement signed by Jordan and Syria cancels the departure taxes imposed until now to  Jordanians and to Syrians who pass the border between the two countries

The outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, have just given his agreement for the creation of a modern laboratory within the port of Beirut, which will be used for the imported food products analysis.

The French company Alstom Transport France won the international invitation to tender related to the supply and the maintenance of the rolling infrastructure of the first line of the tram in Casablanca.

Syria and the European Investment Bank have agreed to launch a 100 million EUR special fund aiming at supporting Syrian municipalities.

The microcredit financing system in Tunisia facilitated the emergence of a new generation of small employers.

The 2 countries are willing to boost their economic ties by establishing a FTA by the end of 2009. Ankara has become a major investor in the Mediterranean since 2003, especially in Egypt.

International forum on the bank and electronic banking themes

The SIEHM, International Trade Show of Medical and Hospital Equipment wants to be a professional area devoted to health, Algeria as the figures indicate is firmly committed to an extensive program of upgrading and modernization of its health facilities. The SIEHM is the largest trade show of health in Algeria for several reasons, on the one hand to the surface exposed net about 10 000 m², the number of exhibitors over 150 operators and over 350 traders guests.

MED-ALLIA Cairo 2009 is a multisector forum that aims at developing commercial exchanges and partnerships between French and Egyptian companies as well as enterprises of the region, thus joining the dynamics of the Union for the Mediterranean co-presided by France and Egypt.

The aim of "Tech Fruits et Legumes", Euro Mediterranean Meetings that will take place on December 7 and 8 in Avignon-France, is to allow Fruit and Vegetable Industry stakeholders within the Euro Mediterranean zone to create and expand their commercial, technological and scientific parterships.  The participants in this event will be companies, technical centres, research laboratories, universities and techno clusters and competitive clusters who are looking to set up commercial, industrial,, technology and scientific partnerships  

The Med-IT Tunis are business meetings about the Information Technologies, only for the professionals and decision-makers of the IT sector.

The Mediterranean meeting for fruit & vegetables industry Over 6 years now, all the major players in the fruit and vegetables related equipment industry meet annually at the Sifel Morocco trade show.A platform for the operators of this industry in terms of new products and technologies, SIFEL Morocco continues to bring together producers, exporters in search of new innovations and production technologies in a changing market place.

Create, Finance ,Develop , Innovate, Go ahead,  Initiate, Dare. During 3 days, professionals will listen to you, the workshops will provide an opportunity for exhibitors and visitors to learn about legal and financial regulations in this sector. Leaders of SME / VSE, Professionals, Craftsman  and Merchants, Designers and Project leaders, participate in this major economic event : from 10 to 12 December 2009 at the headquarters of UTICA .

In december 2009, the ADECI will organise meetings between northern and southern Mediterranean firms already working in the Environment & Energy field. The main countries concerned will be Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, France and Belgium. The aim is to get together more than a hundred companies interested in establishing a partnership based on complementary skills. These meetings will be organised with the support and collaboration of the UNIDO and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.

A one-day workshop  on the theme of industrial partnerships, a method to link small-to-medium-sized firms from both sides of the Mediterranean. Intended to promote the IP concept and its results, this workshop day will enable experts and entrepreneurs to meet, exchange experience and establish contacts.The Industrial Partnership trophies will be awarded to the three northern and southern Mediterranean intercorporate partnerships that have been judged exemplary. The dates could be modified.

The aim of the ACFCI's initiative is to train the staff of Moroccan and Tunisian business support organisations to manage clusters in priority fields (ICT, textile, tourism, mechanical industries). The goal of this training session which will take place in Casablanca is to transfer know-how to staff in charge of supporting companies. It is especially to support SMEs to shift from an individual production system to a collective one.   

Identify the opportunities of development in the processing of waste material in Algeria.

The 3rd Libyan Annual Safety & Security Exhibition will take place within the Tripoli International Fairground. The exhibition is officially sponsored by the Libyan National Security Authority.

This collective mission of French firms of the sector will allow to use the Algerian dynamic in the electronic and software banking and to meet the decision makers, the institutional and banking Algerian actors

The Med-Zones workshop consists in organizing a thematic workshop about sustainable planning and management of economics activity parks in order to finish and value the good practices guide publication. This workshop will gather planners and companies in order to confront the companies’ expectations to the planners practices, to show each of them the interest in suggesting a sustainable planning for activity parks (impact on the territory image and corporate competitivity).

The MENA Infrastructure Investment & Finance Summit 2009 will be held on December, 15-16, 2009 in Beirut, Lebanon.

The 5th operation of the initiative « Young Entrepreneurs; Let's Invest in Med » aims at building the capacities of young entrepreneurs from south Mediterranean countries and to facilitate a transfer of the knowhow  between the countries involved. The 1st module selected will be conducted in Morrocco from December 1- to17, 2009 and will focus on personalised management. This methodology could indeed offer a solution for young entrepreneurs under pressure especially if facing unpredictable situations. This training will gather young entrepreneurs from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and will encourage exchange of experience and opinionrelated to the possible existence of a  "Maghreb-Management style".

Furnishing and Decoration International ExhibitionDAR DECO is dedicated to exhibit high quality furnishing and decoration articles. Only high quality products are accepted for display at the exhibition. DAR DECO is the ideal location for picking up ideas about year-end gifts and interior decoration. DAR DECO is ensuring promotion and sale of products on both the local market and the international market. DAR DECO is visited by tourists coming from neighbouring touristic resort areas as well as by tourists coming from remote areas of the country. DAR DECO is an exhibition-sale complementary to the Tunis Furniture Exhibition. DAR DECO is visited by foreign visitors and enjoys a good coverage in the foreign professional newspapers, particularly in France and Italy.

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