Consult the newsletter on line and/or Suscribe to our newsletter

Leading news

The Mediterranean is shaping its positioning in, the ICT sector
Heavy month for hi-tech companies! Two international business to business meetings in information and communications technologies took place during the last 45 days in Algeria, with the support of Invest in Med. E3M business meetings Algiers on 26-27 April, and Med-IT trade fair in Algiers on 18-20 May where the ICT Minister Mr Bessalah annouced his new strategy e-Algeria 2013. 250 companies for E3M, from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and France. 150 exhibitors at Med-IT and nearly 5,000 visitors from the Maghreb, France and Spain. In the meantime the Arab Science and Technology Foundation was organising its 6th Investing in Technology Forum in Cairo (Egypt) on 12-14 May, to promote start-ups from all over MENA countries. We have to rejoice about this interest from European and Arab ICT professionals towards Med countries. Beyond the (now) traditional maghrebin call centers, the upgrade operated by the southern ICT enterprises and their environment (incubators, universities, professional associations) is beginning to pay back. And the region starts to value its advantages. At first, a fantastic market in the upgrading of SMEs in every ICT domain (web, ERP, IP telephony, etc.), today quite well addressed by local and foreign companies, and benefitting from public policy incentives. Secondly, the capacity of the region to jump into new usages. We’ve seen it when the mobile phone wave effaced the low penetration of fixed landlines. For the same reason, today the region is obliged to face a similar technological jump on wireless internet (Wimax, 3G/4G). From east to west, the Mediterranean is a dynamic producer of engineers, and of innovative start-ups. Pioneer markets are in generation, as well as a technological solutions adapted to the economic realities of the countries. Besides, the Mediterranean is crossed by 30% of the world's container traffic, between Port Said and Gibraltar. The professionalisation operated by the ports, the open sky agreements and the expertise developed in foreign curtomers relationship management position the south rim as a possible base for E-commerce operators from the north. Coincidentally governments (in Tunisia, Algeria) are starting to incentive E-commerce activities. Customers relationship management centers, today software and voice over IP, tomorrow wireless internet and E-commerce. Pionneers in M-commerce (commerce via mobile telephony)?  The positioning of the Mediterranean ICT is on its way.

The  Medenergy Project is underway, with an ongoing study on the investment opportunities in the energy and renewable energy sectors in Tunisia and Egypt.  Two study visits took place in April and May, so to collect material and documentation on the energy situation in the target countries, interview stakeholders and verify; on the ground; the opportunities and criticalities on the topic of energy and investment. This operation is a first step towards BtoB events to be organised in November.

While preparing the workshop about investments in Algeria for the diaspora, ACIM has already contacted 80 managers from the Algerian diaspora, living in th PACA region, Languedoc-Roussillon and Ile de France. Entrepreneurs received a questionnaire about their partnership request. On this basis ACIM will then select the managers who'll come to Algiers for the workshop.

More than 250 actors in digital and telecom sectors have gathered in Algiers on April 26th & 27th in order to develop commercial, technical and financial partnerships. For two days, French, Moroccan and Tunisian companies have met their Algerian counterparts during BtoB meetings set up by the organisers. Workshops were organized during the business meetings about the ICT economic context in Algeria and around the Mediterranean.

The development of water technology, innovations and services is today a priority in the euromed region and will increase in importance as water scarcity becomes more pressing. In order to reinforce the cooperation between Catalonia, Italy, Israel, Egypt and Morocco in this sector, a conference as well as BtoB meetings have been organised in Barcelona from March 24 to 27, 2009 as part of the Med-Water initiative. In this context, high level experts from the targeted countries have been invited to present to some 50 companies the business opportunities in their countries and more than 170 BtoB meetings have been organised between Catalonian, Italian, Israeli, Egyptian and Moroccan enterprises. Two partnerships agreements have already been signed as a result from these meetings.

The Mag-Trace initiative (project dedicated to building the capacity of Maghreban farmer’s association in food security and traceability) has launched its first activity on May 11th, 2009, through the implementation of technical assistance missions in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Lead by food security experts already involved in a similar project in Egypt (UNIDO- Etrace) these field visits have provided the opportunity to draw an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the concerned institutions. It has also confirmed that all three countries have the necessary awareness on traceability implementation. The experts in charge of these missions have pointed out the know-how already achieved in some large enterprises and in certain farmer groups in Morocco and Tunisia in terms of traceability system and have underlined the necessity to better mobilise on this subject in Algeria.  A tailored training (Egypt, May 30th-June 4, 2009) specifically dedicated to Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian professionals will address the identified weaknesses and hence reinforce the capacity of the farmers’ associations of the three countries in terms on food security issues.

Smart Technology, specialist in the interactive white tables, Ultragen, engineering office dedicated to the industry of hydrocarbons, and Rio Tinto Alcan, mining giant, recently expressed their wish to settle in Algeria.

Israeli Ministry of Finance recently announced that foreign investors will benefit from new tax cuts on finvestments in private equity funds.  

The Jordan Atomic Energy Commission and the Ministry of Water and Irrigation have signed a key agreement which involves the creation of 4 nuclear power plants, several desalinisation plants and the revival of the Red-Dead canal project.

According to the last report of the London investment company Blakeney Investors devoted to the markets of the area, Lebanon constitutes a "protected banking zone".

According to the Minister of Industry, Trade and New technologies, Mr. Ahmed Chami, "the tendency to the development of the offshoring in Morocco should be still accentuated".

Whereas the world economy rate entered a zone of strong turbulences, Syria recorded a 7% rise of her inner product  in 2008.

A cooperation protocole aimed at improving the product quality and productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was signed on Monday 11th of May 2009 in Tunis.

The solar panels market starts in Turkey and attracts new foreign companies eager to invest a ground who still not very occupied.

The EEPAD and the holding China Great Wall Computer Shenzhen Co signed on Tuesday May 19, 2009 a partnership agreement on mother cards for laptop and additional computers manufacturing in Algeria.

WorleyParsons enters the scene after the withdrawal of Bechtel, an US-based company considered so far as the most serious challenger in the bidding for the construction of Egypt's first nuclear power plant.

The Israeli president, Mr. Shimon Fathers, and the Chinese Minister for the Foreign Affairs, Mr. Yang Jiechi, in visit in Jerusalem, met last Thursday in order to evoke the bilateral relations.

The World Economic Forum on the Middle East meeting which took place on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea on the 15-17 May 2009 was the occasion of various key announcements.

The funds of investment of Bader, local association of support for the entrepreneuriat, chose to support Luceor, free-Lebanese company high tech.

Tripoli and Islamabad have expressed their eagerness to deepen their bilateral ties. Trade between Libya and Pakistan amounts nearly US$6m per year, and 10.000 workers originating from Pakistan are currently present in the Jamahariya.

With the launching of the company Air Arabia Morocco, based in Casablanca, the country welcomes a third airline company at low cost, after Atlas Blue and Jet4you.

According to the Syrian Investment Agency, about US$1.19bn have been invested by foreigners in the country in 2008.

Tunisia launch Wednesday April 29, 2009 a large communication campaign in international entitled "Looking for growth?  Think Tunisia, the euromedvalley for industry and technology".

In an economic context not very suitable for the increase of industrial demand, Turkey, hard affected, continue to benefit from a very favorable image next to the European investors, and in particular German.

EUROCHAMBRES will organise in Casablanca the first capacity building seminar for Maghrebian economic development organisations, giving concrete advice on how to address problems identified during the previously conducted audits.

Organised in the fringe of the Athens Business Forum, a year after the official launch of the programme, the Invest in Med annual conference will bring together the members of the Invest in Med consortium and their respective networks of Euro-Mediterranean economic development key actors.

One year after the official launch of the Union for the Mediterranean, the private sector will meet in Athens on July 8th, 9th and 10th 2009 to reaffirm its strong commitment to foster economic ties which generate development, growth and job creation in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

Technical workshop on how to better support enterprises aims at sharing common practices on internationalization matters and in particular to assist companies in the delicate phase after the business meetings in view of signing contracts with counterparts.

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