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MedVentures, a platform to boost Mediterranean high-growth start-ups in their internationalisation, is well on track!
 Over 20 carefully selected pro-active field networks (science clusters, entrepreneurs networks, incubators, diaspora networks) from 10 southern Mediterranean partner countries (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestinian authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey) are onboard for the sourcing identification of the best start-ups to compete in the MedVentures awards 2010, and the future actions of the initiative in 2011. They are the pillars of MedVentures coordinating actions with their local and international partners networks.Today, more than 40 projects have already been proposed. A summary of the 100 best start-ups projects and their needs for partnerships will be posted on the Medventures website from July 20. A jury gathering today 8 high level international investors business and innovation networks will then select the 10 best start-ups in the Mediterranean (1 per country) during a workshop held in the fringe of the Europe Innova conference in Liege (Belgium) on Wednesday 27 October 2010.[Read+]

Next Invest in Med Biz Board release in September 2010
ANIMA and the Invest in Med team wishes you a nice summer leave and look forward to seeing your Mediterranean businesses fit back in September!

The PACEIM program dedicated to the creation of innovative companies in the Mediterranean and implemented by the Institute of Research for Development (IRD) is aimed at mobilising expertise of scientific and technical Diasporas from South Mediterranean countries who are living in Europe. The programme is designed for students, researchers, engineers and technicians who project economic development or a company creation in the Mediterranean. Applications can be submitted until 15 September 2010. Further information on: www.ird.fr/paceim (in French)

A thematic workshop organised in Damascus (Syria), on 7 & 8 June 2010 gathered Lebanese, Syrian, and Jordan representatives of the business community. The workshop was aimed at sharing expertise on new European regulations on cosmetic products as well as improving the capacity of Mediterranean producers to export to the European Union. In September 2010, the CCI of Beirut and its partners will organise in Paris a meeting between European and Mediterranean professionals of the sector. [Read+]

Following the success of the first edition in January in Marseille, the second MovieMed meetings dedicated to the synergies between tourism and audiovisual will take place in Ouarzazate, Morocco on 20 & 21 January 2011. The first edition gathered around 150 professionals. AirFrance and Accor agreed to finance an Egyptian movie production. Inscriptions for the worshops and BtoB meetings as well as applications for the "Film" and "Film-Tourism Products" scholarships will be available from July 2010. Further information on www.moviemed.ccimp.com.

In the framework of the So’Eco project, dedicated to eco-construction in social housing, a first technical assistance mission was organised in Tunisia from 7 to 11 June 2010. The next missions will take place in Lebanon and Syria from 5 to 9 July 2010. These operations are aimed at establishing a diagnosis of the local situation, as well as preparing a training which will be held in October 2010 in the following fields: development of social eco-area and global city planning, improvement of energy efficiency by minimising production costs and divulgation of materials and techniques regarding the local context. [Read+]

Following the success of its 2009 edition (100 enterprises, 470 BtoB meetings organised), the Italian Chamber of Commerce for France of Marseille is currently prospecting companies, technical centres, research laboratories, universities, and clusters to participate in the second edition of the Tech Fruits et Legumes event. It will take place on 11 & 12 October 2010 in Avignon, France and will be dedicated to technologies and innovations in the Mediterranean (food safety and quality, environment and sustainable development, innovation process and logistics). For more information or to get registered, visit the website (www.techfruitsandvegetables.com) or contact the organisers (entreprises-agroalimentaire@ccif-marseille.com).

The multi-actor business meetings on technical textile held on 16 & 17 June 2010 in Tunis, in the framework of the international fair TEXMED 2010, gathered entrepreneurs, researchers, teachers and business support structures from several European and Mediterranean countries. Over 360 BtoB meetings were organised, and contacts have been established between companies and business support organisations such as:  ICOMA (Morocco) and Lectra (France-Tunisia); Fitor and MALHAS CARJOR SA (Portugal); BENDATIS (Morocco) and PELLETTERIA V.G. (Italy); CETTEX (Tunisia) and Arab Federation of Textile Industries. [Read+]

A technical training on innovation in the distribution channel was organised in Tunis from 28 to 30 June 2010. About 20 women business managers from the Maghreb region learned how to access the key distribution channels such as e-commerce websites, mass-market retailing and specialised stores. The participants, who were selected during the first operation of the Distrimed 2.0 project, will then benefit from a personalised technical support. The best projects will receive a specialised coaching and assistance. [Read+]

Partners of the MedZones project met on 7 July 2010 in Marseille to deal with competitiveness of companies and attractiveness of territories in the Mediterranean. Near 120 actors working in business park settlement, management and animation, located in southern Mediterranean countries, were present. [Read+]

The Medstatistics handbook that has just been published by the ASCAME in the framework of Invest in Med, presents the main statistical data needed by economic actors to establish business in the Mediterranean, whether it is to invest or to export. A perception analysis of the performance of the different Mediterranean countries is also established. To download the handbook, click here.

In the framework of the IDDI Forum "Interactions between sustainable development and innovation" implemented by the French Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Sea in partnership with the Sophia Antipolis Foundation, on 28 & 29 June 2010, the Best Med project gathered around 40 actors for a workshop and a BtoB meeting on sustainable tourism. Altogether, 80 business meetings were set up with companies and professional organisations from Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and France. [Read+]

Thirteen Mediterranean countries participated to the symposium organised in Civitavecchia, Italy on 25 June 2010. This symposium hosted by the Mayor of Civitavecchia ended the initiative launched in January 2009 in Marseille. Beyond the creation of the Med-Tracking Community, participants from all these countries will work together to develop the Med-Tracking system aimed at improving the inter-modal transportation of goods in the Mediterranean. [Read+]

In the frame of the Algerian-European support programme for companies called "PME II", three expertise centres are going to be created before the end of 2010.  [Lire+]  

According to experts, with a growing domestic demand and the multiplication of export opportunities, Egyptian glass industry is about to double by 2015.  [Read+]

The european project, EUREKA aims at stimulating the cross-border European competitiveness in the field of innovation. This research network gathers several European States, Israel and the European Commission.  [Lire+]

Receipts generated by the touristic sector are increasing, 31.3% for the first semester 2010 reaching about USD 1 billion, despite of the gloomness of the international economic climate.  [Lire+]  

Deutsche Bank Middle East Foundation has partnered with Bader Young Entrepreneurs Program to launch the Deutsche Bank Awards in Lebanon.  [Read+]

Libya and UAE has just inked a double taxation agreement with a view to facilitating trade business partnerships between both countries.  [Read+]

Currently there are five economic hubs settled in the Tangiers area : Tangiers Med, Tangiers Free Zone (TZF), Meloussa 1, Meloussa 2 and the offshore hub still being built in Tetouan.  [Read+]

One of the reason of this boom in organic is the support of the tunisian authorities.  [Lire+]  

Baku-based SOCAR-Turcas, the owner of Turkish petrochemicals producer Petkim, has just obtained the official approval to build a USD 5 billion refinery in Izmir’s Aliaga district.  [Read+]

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