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Home > Get involved > About our initiatives 
About our initiatives 48 initiatives aiming at reinforcing business partnerships between euro Mediterranean SMEs, have been selected in October 2008, March 2009 and February 2010 for their efficiency, impact and their potential of development.
Contributing to a sustainable development in the Mediterranean1. Med Water - Addressing Med water challenges Leader: ACC1Ó - Agència per a la innovació i la internacionalització de l'empresa catalana (Spain); Partners: Invest in Israel (Israel), Unioncamere (Italy) In the global interests of sustainable development,water and environmental technologieslay a crucial role. In the Mediterranean basin and Europe in general, the development of water technology, innovations and services is a priority issue, and it will increase in importance as water shortage becomes more pressing. Many of the water problems of Israel, Catalonia (Spain) and Italy are caused by water shortage, which are increasingly heightened by climate change, pollution of water reservoirs, urbanisation, processes and economic growth, prompting the need for further investment in the development of water technologies and solutions. The complementarities between water-related needs and problems in the targeted countries, and the expertise available offer excellent perspectives to leverage synergies,create partnerships and share knowledge. As a result, ACC1Ó and its partners - with the marginal involvement of Moroccan and Egyptian organisations - have seized the opportunity of Med Water to develop activities dedicated to enhance technological exchanges between the companies of their networks. Contact: Frederic Subirats, fsubirats@gencat.cat
2. Batimed – Construction partnerships between Poland and Maghreb Leader: Polish Chamber of Commerce (Poland), Partners: CCI Casablanca (Morocco), Algerian CCI (Algeria) The construction and building industries are key sectors for the development of Mediterranean countries, confronted with the challenges of climatic change (notably energy consumption and emission of greenhouse gases). Batimed was therefore born of a partnership between two countries from the Maghreb and a country from Central Europe, bolstered by numerous international experts. This initiative was proposed to favour exchanges of essential information about EU markets, to favour development projects in Algeria and Morocco as well as to create sustainable cooperation both between support organisations and businessmen, and more particularly between EU and MED companies. Batimed has also benefitted from a strong support from the Polish government, an indicator of the importance given to this sector and to cooperation with the Mediterranean. The Batimed initiative is thus exemplary of the new partnership between the new partnership between new European countries and the Mediterranean region. Contact: Agnieszka Salamończyk, asalamonczyk@kig.pl
3. Med Energy - Development of renewable energies Leader: ASEM (Italy); Partners: CEEBA - Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations (Egypt), CCI Tunis (Tunisia), MEDA Enviro Network (Spain), Retecamera (Italy) The development of renewable energies - in particular wind, water, solar energy and biomass – is one of the central objectives of the EU energy policy. It is also one of the priorities for the partner countries from the Southern rim to provide greater energy independence and the building of innovating industrial sub-sectors. Using an approach targeting a limited number of subsectors, Med Energy has identified investment and partnership opportunities between European businesses (Italy, Spain in particular) and the Southern Mediterranean (Tunisia, Egypt especially).
4. Building Insulation – Rational use of energy in housing & construction Leader: CACI (Algeria); Partners: UTICA - Union Tunisienne de l’Industrie, du Commerce et de l’Artisanat (Tunisia), CGEM - Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc (Morocco), GTZ - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (Germany), REME network (Maghreb) The Builing Insulation initiative has enabled the economic operators from the building sector (grouped within the REME) as well as training and research centres from the Maghreb to position themselves on the international market and share their practices and experience in insulation and waterproofing with European SMEs and players. A training programme, a guide of existing competence in the production of insulation materials in the Maghreb and business meetings enabled the Maghreb players to exploit their assets and to develop the transfer of know-how with their European counterparts.
5. SO'ECO - Eco-construction in social housing Leader: Interco Aquitaine (France); Partners: UTICA - Union Tunisienne de l’Industrie, du Commerce et de l’Artisanat (Tunisia), AWEX - Agence Wallonne à l'Exportation et aux Investissements étrangers (Belgium), ACC1Ó - Agència per a la innovació i la internacionalització de l'empresa catalana (Spain), Syrian Investment Agency (Syria), CCIA Beyrouth Mont Liban (Lebanon) The main aim of SO’ECO was to enable the Lebanese, Syrian and Tunisian players (of the buildiing industry in general and social housing in particular) to acquire or share competences in terms of sustainable building. The building sector is undergoing important transformations in the Mediterranean (energy constraints, sustainable building techniques). The local players seek technical and technological transfers, business partnerships which would enable them to develop a quality habitat, which is efficient both in price and energy consumption terms. Under the European policy aiming to bolster the environmental performance of buildings, technical and institutional know-how (regulations, incentives) has been developed by certain clusters including those of Bordeaux, Wallonia and Catalonia. SO’ECO allowed to transfer this know-how to the territories facing a growing demand for social housing and strong environmental constraints.
Leader: ACC1Ó - Agència per a la innovació i la internacionalització de l'empresa catalana (Spain); Partners: Palestinian Federation of Industry (Palestine), Invest in Israel (Israel), Czech Chamber of Commerce (Czech Republic), Unioncamere (Italy), CCI Marseille Provence (France), CEEBA - Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations (Egypt) In the context of climate change, it seems crucial to change modes of production, distribution and consumption of energy and seek new sources of energy, both clean and sustainable. It is fundamental to favour a solid Euro-Mediterranean partnership, committed to the development and expansion of renewable energy, in response to the common challenges such as the promotion of a sustainable environment and a secure energy supply. The Sun for Med initiative, led by ACC1Ó, in partnership with Israel, the Czech Republic, France, Italy and for some activities Egypt, has contributed to the fulfillment of this objective by strengthening sectoral alliances and the institutional networks between the partner countries, revealing the potential of Mediterranean business and optimising sustainable regional cooperation through initiatives dedicated to the photovoltaic solar energy sector.
7. Euromed Green Building - a strategic partnership for a greener construction sector Leader: AIP - Association of Portuguese Industry (Portugal); Partners: CCI Tafna-Tlemcen (Algeria), CEEBA - Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations (Egypt), CEOE - Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales (Spain), CGEM - Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc (Morocco), SEV - Hellenic Federation of Enterpises (Greece) The Euromed Green Building initiative was launched to improve the environmental performance of the Building and Public Works (BPW) sector in the Euromed region and to favour the dissemination of best practices. Two types of operation were organised in the context of Tektonica, the main BPW trade fair in Portugal, which took place from 11 to 13 May 2010 in Lisbon. The 2010 edition of this fair comprised a Tek Green section dedicated to sustainable building techniques, the energy efficiency of the buildings and the social responsbility of the BPW sector.
8. ENER-TECH - Technologies towards Sustainable Production Leader: AMEC (Spain); Partners: CEEBA - Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations (Egypt), Jordan chamber of Industry (Jordan), CCIA Beirut and Mont Lebanon (Lebanon) Energy efficiency is not only a matter of environment but also a concern for the productivity and competitiveness of the Mediterranean industry. Several recent studies have assessed that in some energy intensive sub-sectors, savings of up to 30, 40 or even 50 per cent are technically possible in most companies. The effective implementation of energy efficiency measures depends to a large extent on technology transfers. In order to face these challenges, Ener-Tech’s main target was to disseminate European know-how and technologies, solutions and products in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy, and to promote business cooperation agreements. This initiative focused on encouraging partnerships and exchanges of information between 40 Spanish companies and stakeholders and 25 companies from Algeria, Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey.
9. Med Competitiveness - Fostering Competitiveness for South-Med Products Leader: CGEM - Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc (Morocco); Partners: Lebanon Cleaner Production Center (Lebanon), Egypt National Cleaner Production Center (Egypt), UNIDO (France) The Med Competitiveness initiative has been focused on assisting Egyptian, Moroccan and Lebanese SMEs to manufacture products which comply with European environmental directives, like RoHS (Restriction of certain Hazardous Substances), REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and restriction of Chemicals), C&L (Classification and Labelling) and thereby boost their export to European markets. Awareness raising workshops, training of trainers and manufacturers on how to comply with these directives have been organised along with technical assistance to SMEs and a matchmaking event for Mediterranean and European companies.
10. Med-Zones - Best practices for industrial zone development Leader: CCI Marseille Provence (France); Partners: members of EUROCHAMBRES and ASCAME Med Zones has laid the bases of the construction of a Mediterranean offer for sustainable and effective business parks, able to favour the competitiveness and the attractiveness of its related territory. Four large common issues for the development of business parks have been identified: 1) management of space: demographic growth, attractiveness of the large Mediterranean metropolitan areas and the rarity of land necessitate densifying spaces for economic development and fighting against land speculation; 2) accounting for climatic factors: important sunshine hours and rarity of water require rethinking the way in which to design, develop and renovate business parks; 3) innovation, factor of development: relocation of production tools in countries where labour is less costly and the evolution of the geopolitical equilibrium force the Mediterranean business parks to implement technological innovations to attract higher addedvalue businesses; 4) networking of players: in an open economy, networks enable knowled to be capitalised and provide new synergies between the different players. Modernising the agrifood sector in the Mediterranean11. EnviroFoodTec - Smart food processing and water waste treatment in dry Med regions Leader: Promofirenze (Italy); Partners: CCI Valencia (Spain), CEEBA - Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations (Egypt), SEBC - Syrian Enterprise & Business Center (Syria) The Mediterranean Basin can be seen as an integrated area where new forms of partnerships in the food and beverage sector could be developed. Both rims show similarities and complementarities: Italy, Spain and France, thanks to their traditions, knowledge and geographical position, are well-placed to help foster links between the Mediterranean and EU countries in the food sector. The processing of food from raw materials requires large volumes of water. In countries suffering from water shortages and drought, it is essential to apply sustainable food processing technologies that foresee water re-use. As a result, the Enviro Food Tech initiative was initiated to consolidate sustainable commercial relationships between Mediterranean and EU SMEs, between business support organisations (BSO) from the two rims. Regional synergies for food processing and waste water treatment technologies were also developed.
12. Agroalimed - Bilateral cooperation on agrifood Leader: Cámara Oficial de Comercio, Industria y Navegación de Valencia (Spain); Partners: CCI Casablanca (Morocco) On 16 September 2010, the European Commission adopted a draft decision on a EU-Morocco bilateral trade agreement for agro-food and fisheries products. It will provide the immediate liberalisation of 45% of European exports, thus significantly strengthening the position of European exporters on the Moroccan market. Over the next ten years the full liberalisation of most products is planned. This situation creates a great opportunity for bilateral business cooperation that nevertheless requires information and training for both Moroccan – and more generally Mediterranean – and European SMEs on crucial issues such as production standards to be upgraded, marketing strategies to be adopted and legal requirements to be complied with. The Agroalimed initiative, the result of a close partnership between the chambers of commerce of Spain and Morocco, tackles this prime issue for agri-business professionals by disseminating information and knowledge on both markets’ opportunities, on new regulations to be complied with and on investment opportunities for European SMEs in the Mediterranean.
13. Mag-Trace - Food safety and traceability in the Maghreb Leader: UMAGRI - Maghreb Farmers’ Union (Tunisia); Partners: UNIDO (France), Tunisian Union for Agriculture and Fisheries (Tunisia), National Union of Algerian Farmers (Algeria), Moroccan Union for Agriculture (Morocco), APEFEL – Moroccan Association of Fruits and Vegetables Producers and Exporters (Morocco), VITAGORA Cluster/Dijon Development (France), Camara official de Comercio e Industria de Léon (Spain), Centuria-Romagna Innovazione tecnologica (Italy) I n 2008, according to the ANIMA-MIPO Observatory, agro-food industries in the Mediterranean attracted 24 projects worthan announced EUR 1.7 billion: an average performance given the Mediterranean potential (products, gastronomy). The Mag-Trace initiative is thus to be found in a perspective of stimulationof the Euro-Mediterranean agro-food sector: faced with the increasingly specific demands of European companies, Maghreb companies are forced, in order to preserve their market, to improve the quality and the traceability of their products without necessarily having the technical means nor the competence. The Mag-Trace initiative has therefore undertaken to reinforce the capacity of the three Maghreb farming federations to support their member companies in introducing appropriate food traceability systems. The approach used has been based upon the Etrace programme, implemented in Egypt by UNIDO, and the experience of the European clusters.
14. Tech Fruits et légumes - Euro-Mediterranean BtoB meetings on technology and innovation Leader: Italian Chamber of Commerce in Marseille (France/Italy) ; Partners: Economic Mission of Tel Aviv (Israel), Camara di Commercio IAA di Crotone (Italy), Borsa Merci Telematica Italiana S.c.p.a (Italy), CCI di Reggio Calabria (Italy), CCI du Vaucluse (France), CCI di Trapani (Italy), Italian Chamber of Commerce in Morocco (Morocco/Italy), Antares Development (Algeria), Chamber of Commerce of Parma (Italy), Méditerranée Technologies (France), Bizerte Cluster (Tunisia), PEIFL - Pôle Euro-méditerranéen innovation fruits et légumes (France) The Mediterranean fruit and vegetable subsector is subjected to a strict legislative framework and growing pressure from distributors who continually impose new requirements in terms of agro-food safety. In an attempt to comply with them, businesses have to develop increasingly refined technological solutions which should nevertheless remain competitive. Boosted by its long experience in the Mediterranean, the CCIFM has partnered, for the implementation of the Tech Fruits and Vegetables initiative, with organisations federating agricultural territories – such as the Vaucluse and Parma CCIs – as well as clusters dedicated to agro-food innovation. The seminars organised have given the opportunity to share experience on a series of themes (such as innovation in packaging, conservation of fruits and vegetables) and to initiate a sustainable cooperation between the territories of Bizerte, Parma and Avignon. The business meetings, which brought together a hundred or so companies from nine Mediterranean countries, as well as the information workshops carried out have encouraged the exchange of know-how and the conclusion of technological and strategic agreements between SMEs from the region. Promoting value-added tourism in the Mediterranean15. Best-Med - Business eco-sustainable tourism in the Mediterranean area Leader: Unioncamere (Italy); Partners: CCI Cagliari (Italy), CEEBA - Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations (Egypt), Union of Hellenic CCI (Greece), CCI de Nice Côte d’Azur (France), CCI Tunis (Tunisia), CCI Alhoceima (Morocco) The ambition of Best Med is to promote the development of a tourism sector which respects the environment in the Mediterranean. Two complementary strategies are implemented: raising awareness among tourism operators and hotel companies on the advantages of sustainable tourism and promoting a better reconciliation of the supply with the demand in the sector of eco-sustainable products through business meetings. This initiative represents an important lever not only for the tourism sector but also for other sectors of activity linked to the new environmental sustainability technologies.
16. ETINET - Euromediterranean cultural and nautical tourist investment network Leader: CCI Malaga (Spain); Partners: CCI Marseille-Provence (France), CCIS Tanger (Morocco), CCI Tunis (Tunisia) With the aim of responding to the challenge of sustainable tourism development in the Mediterranean (diversification of products, increase in average tourist spending, reduction in seasonality, etc.), by encouraging the emergence of novel tourist products, the Malaga Chamber of Commerce has created the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Knowledge, Innovation and Training in tourism. It also chairs the ASCAME Tourism Commission. In collaboration with the Marseille Provence CCI, the Tunis CCI and the Tangiers CCIS, it drew up the ETINET initiative with the objective of stimulating investment, commercial relations and creating synergies between European and Mediterranean tourism operators in two high added-value tourism sub-sectors: cultural and nautical tourism.
17. MovieMed - Marketing the Med cinema industry Leader: CCI Marseille-Provence (France); Partners: Film France (France), CCI Malaga (Spain), Federation of Egyptian Industries (Egypt), CCI Tunis (Tunisia), CCI Tripoli (Lebanon), PACA Regional Council (France), Ecole superieure des arts visuels de Marrakech (Morocco), Bouches-du-Rhone General Council (France) A udio-visual production is an important source of economic, media and tourist spin-offs for the territory which knows how to take advantage of it (accommodation, equipment rental, employment for technicians, etc.). Nevertheless, the film tourism sub-sector, or in other words the valorisation of a territory for and through the intermediary of audio-visual production, is a perfectly new venture for the Southern Mediterranean countries which possess, however, considerable natural, human and technical resources. The MovieMed initiative has thus undertaken to promotethe assets of the Mediterranean for audio-visual production s well as to stimulate the introduction of a suitable strategy by local territorial players. The Movie-Med meetings 2010 and 2011 have encouraged new public-private cooperations and offered a meeting and common collaboration platform for both tourism and cinema players. MovieMed has also launched, for the first time in the Mediterranean, the film-tourism project and product awards bestowed, n the one hand, to a production which promotes a territory and, on the other hand, to a territory which has developed a specific film-tourism communication. Developing entrepreneurship18. Med Women Entrepreneurship - Maghrebian federation of women entrepreneurs Leader: AFEM - Association des femmes chefs d’entreprises du Maroc (Morocco); Partners: SEVE – Savoir et Vouloir Entreprendre (Algeria); Chambre Nationale des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises (Tunisia) A re female entrepreneurs aware of the opportunities offered in the Mediterranean? Do they evolve in an effective economic environment which enable them to know and access these opportunities? The Carrefours du Maghreb initiative sheds light on the state of play of feminine entrepreneurship in three Maghreb countries (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia), offers a glimpses of the socio-economic context women entrepreneurs are facing, and shares example of success stories to be replicated. Moreover, Carrefours du Maghreb has managed to go past the frontiers of the Maghreb by mobilising women entrepreneurs from the Mashreq (Egypt, Lebanon), the United States as well as Europe (Spain, Belgium notably). Its main challenge has been to support the creation of a network of women entrepreneurs in the ICT gathering organisations and companies from the two shores of the Mediterranean.
19. Med Franchise - Development of franchise for women Leader: CCI Ljubljana (Slovenia); Partners: AFAEMME - Association des federations et associations de businesswomen mediterraneennes (Spain); AFEM - Association des femmes chefs d'entreprise du Maroc (Morocco); Jordan Forum For Business & Professional Women (Jordan); Egyptian Business Women Association (Egypt), GIZ PODJETNOST (Slovenia) Franchising is a great way to empower women and unleash their entrepreneurial spirit. Indeed, franchises offer business opportunities with low risks of failure and could therefore be a great driving force for economic growth in the Mediterranean. However, the information provided to potential franchisees and the legislation in place are unequally developed. Although Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia have started to develop specific strategies to support this approach (Tunisian law in 2009, financial support from governments, dedicated banks, etc.), some countries are still not familiar with the advantages of franchises. In all cases, more support is needed, especially to raise awareness among women entrepreneurs on the potential of franchises and to provide businesswomen’s organisations with information and advices which will enable them to mobilise their members. Med Franchise therefore offers a platform for collaboration between businesswomen’s organisations from all over the region to build their capacity and inc rease their international networking ability.
20. PLATO Egypt - Mentorship programme for SME managers Leader: Federation of Belgium Chambers of Commerce - Voka chamber of Commerce East-Flanders (Belgium); Partners: CEEBA - Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations (Egypt) SME owners have to address various problems in their daily work, most of the time without any guidance or assistance from specialists. The PLATO method, designed in Belgium around 1990, offers an informal coaching and mentoring platform tosupport SME owners in their decision-making processes: the PLATO learning networks train major companies to accompany SMEs in their development and organise monthly discussion meetings in small groups of SMEs. Successfully implemented in various countries over the 2000s, PLATO has been tested for the first time on the Southern Mediterranean rim within the Invest in Med project. The organisers have first selected and trained six representatives from multinational companies (such as Unilever Mashreq or Bavarian Auto Group) to be mentors. 20 monthly meetings between mentors and SME managers were then carried out in Alexandria and Cairo, offering the opportunity to discuss confidentially the problems they were facing, and to exchange on possible solutions. This initiative also encouraged international between Belgian and Egyptian companies.
21. Young Entrepreneurs – Support to Maghreb emerging companies Leader: UTICA - Union Tunisienne de l’Industrie, du Commerce et de l’Artisanat (Tunisia); Partners: Centre des Jeunes Dirigeants (Tunisia), Centre des Jeunes Dirigeants (Morocco), Innovation and Companies Center (Belgium), CEEI Novacité (France) Micro-enterprises are essential for the creation of employment and value in the South and East of the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, young Mediterranean business leaders often find themselves helpless when it comes to internationalising their businesses. In fact, very few structures are in a position to provide them with in-depth support in this process, yet their needs are immense: needs for support in managerial training, in building strategic, financial and technological partnerships, in understanding foreign distribution systems or quite simply in cultural adaptation. The Young Entrepreneurs initiative has contributed to making up these shortfalls by creating links between Maghreb centres for young entrepreneurs (CJD) and European innovation clusters. Capacity building programmes covering the different aspects of business internationalisation (crisis management, cross-cultural approach, expansion strategies) have been organised along with business meetings.
22. Med Young Entrepreneurs Coaching Network - Mediterranean network for young entrepreneurs Leader: Réseau Entreprendre International (France); Partners: Monastir entreprendre (Tunisia), Bader Young entrepreneur Programme (Lebanon), Maroc entreprendre (Morocco) The entrepreneurs from South of the Mediterranean are faced with a triple deficit which is a handicap to their success: the lack of financing to start up their projects, the lack of experience and networking to accelerate their development and the difficulty in accessing foreign markets. Invest in Med called upon the Réseau Entreprendre which developed a system of loans on trust based on associations of business leaders who undertake, financing aside, to accompany the supported entrepreneurs for two years. The objective of Med Young Entrepreneurs Coaching Network was to deploy this methodology in Lebanon and Tunisia and to connect these countries to the Réseau Entreprendre International, which associates six countries and has already financed nearly 5,000 entrepreneurs in Europe.
23. PACEIM - Encourage innovative business creation in the Mediterranean Leader: Institut de Recherche pour le développement (France) ; Partners: CNRST - Centre national pour la Recherche Scientifique et technique (Morocco), Fondation Création d’Entreprises - Banques Populaires du Maroc (Morocco), AMDI - Agence Marocaine de Développement des Investissements (Morocco), RMIE - Réseau Maroc Incubation et Essaimage (Morocco), Atlas Business angels (Morocco), ANDI (Algeria), FIPA - Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (Tunisia), Ministère de l’Industrie, de l’Energie et des petites et moyennes entreprises (Tunisia), IDAL - Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (Lebanon), Marseille Innovation (France) PACEIM aims to accompany and support the creation of 100 innovative businesses from the public research in the South and East of the Mediterranean by 2014. It is supporting initiatives promoted by the scientific and technical diaspora, trained or working in Europe, in all sectors of industrial activity which includesa technological component: studies, doctoral students, post-doctorals, research workers, engineers and technicians. The PACEIM pilot phase, undertakenwithin the framework of Invest in Med, mobilised the players in business creation support from selected countries of the Mediterranean (Algeria, France, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia): it gave the opportunity to test on a regional level this original method of co-accompaniment, by helping some 15 business projects to be implemented. Theses will be monitored during three years.
Leader: ACIM (France); Partners: GTZ - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (Germany), Marseille Innovation (France), ANDI (Algeria) Proximity Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) provided by members of the Mediterranean diaspora in Europe are one of the key orientations for the development of Euro- Mediterranean cooperation. Taking the case of Algeria, out of its 5 million expatriates, 2 million could potentially position themselves on this niche, and, as such, bring productive investment into the country and promote projects likely to create jobs as well as generate transfer of know-how. Proximity FDI could thus appear as a resort in crisis times: the members of the diaspora are indeed able to quickly identify and activate efficient local networks and partners. Nine months of work alongside business leaders from the Algerian diaspora living in France, and senior representatives of the Algerian government and the private sector, have demonstrated the job creation potential the diaspora has, and have highlighted the orientations to be followed for a better support to investment projects proposed by these entrepreneurs. Reinforcing organisations' capacity in supporting SME developmentLeader: CGEM - Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc (Morocco); Partners: Cofindustria (Italy), MEDEF (France), ALI (Lebanon) Enhancing the capacities of Med enterprise federations in providing efficient services to their affiliated members and reinforcing the links between Med and EU Federations is essential for enterprise internationalisation and investment attraction. The initiative proposed by the CGEM answered both needs, by planning staff exchanges and technical training for managing business organisations.
26. Made in Euromed - Partners for sustainable development Leader: BDA (Germany); Partners: Confédération générale des entreprises algériennes (Algeria); BBW (Germany), UTICA - Union Tunisienne de l’Industrie, du Commerce et de l’Artisanat (Tunisia) T he integration of young people and graduates into the professional system is a crucial question for the future of Mediterranean countries which have to address an increased demographic pressure. The professional training systems, although in the process of modernisation, are not yet in a position to respond fully to the requirements of businesses in terms of qualified labour. Work-study programmes, which are not widespread in Mediterranean countries, offer a considerable opportunity: by associating practical and theoretical skills, they guarantee a maximum of employability. Building on this assessment, the German, Tunisian and Algerian employers’ confederations decided after some exchange of expertise workshops to concentrate their collaboration on this key subject – the stake being to improve their knowledge of work-study programme practices and raise awareness among their own companies on the benefits of this method.
27. Economic intelligence for FDI attraction Leader: Invest in Greece (Greece); Partners: Invest in Spain (Spain), GAFI - General Authority for Investment and Free zones (Egypt), Invest in Israel (Israël), Jordan Investment Board (Jordan), ANIMA (France) This Training wass aimed at building the capacity of Euro-Med business supporting organisations to attract FDI by fostering their knowledge of the advantages and possibilities that the economic intelligence offers. During two days, participants have been briefed on all the various aspects of economic intelligence, from the general ones (what is economic intelligence and its practical appliances), to the presentation of concrete experiences of the different participating Investment Promotion Agencies and ANIMA. The possibility of establishing of a Euro-Med network on this field has also be discussed.
28. Strategic Assistance Unit - Creation of an assistance and economic intelligence unit in Tunisia Leader: UTICA - Union Tunisienne de l’Industrie, du Commerce et de l’Artisanat (Tunisia); Partners: CEDITH - Cercle Euro-Méditerranéen des Dirigeants du Textile et de l'Habillement (France) Every employers’ organisation willing to boost the competitiveness of its members has to deal with a major issue when coming to processing and transmitting the massive amount of information it receives each day (electronic information, general or specialised magazines or documents related to regulations and legislations). Aware of the necessity to improve its filing systems and its circulation of information processes in order to be able to provide relevant targeted information to its members, the UTICA has asked Invest in Med to undertake a feasibility mission to evaluate the opportunity of creating an economic intelligence unit. The aim of this technical assistance mission was to: 1/ define, in line with the Tunisian strategy, the knowledge and knowhow which can be leveraged for investments; 2/ identify the sources of knowledge and different systems for the collection of information; 3/ study ways of organising the information available so that the decision-makers may find them easily; 4/ propose suitable tools to target the information users.An information management expert working for a European employers association, the CEDITH, has therefore been recruited to carry out a consulting mission within the UTICA in 2010, so as to analyse their needs and formulate specific recommendations.
29. ICC Services in Med - Training for the development of services provided by Mediterranean CCIs Leader: CCI Paris (France) ; Partners: Fédération des Chambres de Commerce et d'Industrie de Belgique (Belgium), CCIS de la Wilaya de Rabat Salé (Morocco), UTICA - Union Tunisienne de l'Industrie, du Commerce et de l'Artisanat (Tunisia), CCI Tunis (Tunisia) A Consortium led by Paris CCI organised a 2-day training seminar. The main objective of this seminar was to contribute to the reinforcement of the Chambers legitimacy by involving them in a real collaborative and efficient network. In addition, it empowered Chambers to deploy services to companies, to participate in the structuring of private sector and promoting the Mediterranean area as a hub for international trade between Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa.
30. Business Networks in Med - Setting & management of industrial clusters Leader: ACFCI - French Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (France); Partners: Federation of Moroccan Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Services (Morocco), French-Tunisian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Tunisia), Tunisian Industry Promotion Agency (Tunisia) The ACFCI and their partners have organised in Casablanca a two-day training on business networks management dedicated to Tunisian and Moroccan business support organisations. Conducted by professionals of the sector, the training focused on some strategic sectors such as ICT, textile, tourism, mechanical industry as well as automotive and aeronautics subcontracting. The final objective was to ensure a transfer of know-how so that Tunisian and Moroccan collaborators will be able to assist companies, and in particular SMEs, to switch from an individual production system to a collective one.
31. Regional investment attraction guide - Template investor guide for an Algerian region Leader: CCI Tafna-Tlemcen (Algeria); Partners: ACC1Ó - Agència per a la innovació i la internacionalització de l'empresa catalana (Spain) + MedAlliance networks The initiative enabled the development of a “pilot” tool for promoting the attractiveness of the region of Tafna in Algeria (Wilayas of Tlemcen, Sidi Bel Abbes and Aïn-Témouchent) to provide national and international business support organisations (BSOs) as well as as private investors with an instrument for the dissemination of useful information for development. Spin-off operations into other Algerian regions are planned before the end of 2011.
32. Meda Finance - Guide on public financing for companies Leader: CEEBA - Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations (Egypt); Partners: Federation of Egyptian Industrialists (Egypt), BusinessMed (Tunisia), GAFI - General Authority for Investment and Free zones (Egypt), German Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Egypt) The strong mobilisation from SME support organisations for the Invest in Med project may be explained notably by the scant information which these organisations, as well as the SMEs, have available in termsof lines of financing offered by international donors. MEDA Finance thus aimed to identify the SME support tools and instruments available in the Mediterranean and present them in a study and during a conference which brought together beneficiaries and financiers. MEDA Finance represented a step among other studies and actions to improve information for businesses and enable new initiatives to emerge to facilitate the international development of Mediterranean SMEs.
33. Mediterranean Institute of International Trade - Development of trade in Mediterranean region Leader: CCI Tunis (Tunisia); Partners: CCI Marseille Provence (France), CCI of Navigation of Barcelona (Spain), CCI of Istanbul (Turkey) We observe in the majority of Mediterranean countries, a certain incongruity between the systems of training and the needs of the production sectors, as well as common difficulties (implementation of efficient instruments, identification of real needs, etc). These shared needs have increased the necessity for adopting a regional approach and making the development of competence a pillar of integration in the Mediterranean space. It was in this perspective that the project for the creation of a training and research structure dedicated to the Mediterranean CCIs took its form as a Mediterranean Institute of International Business (MIIB), capable of providing a better positioning of the MED region in the global economy. An opportunity study was thus made so as to assess the relevance and the added value of the project for the European and Mediterranean economic actors as well as itscomplementarity with the existing training institutions, in order to assist, in a second phase, in the more precise definition of the project and its objectives. Promoting industrial co-development34. Med-Industrial Partnership - North-South SME industrial companionship (Phase 1) Leader: ADECI (France); Partners: Groupement des Euro-InfoCentres de Wallonie (Belgium); Réseau d'entreprises et développement (France); World Trade Center (Algeria) ; UNIDO (France) Efficient methods of industrial partnership and coaching have been developed over the past years by the ADECI, leading to in-depth technical exchanges between SMEs of both rims of the Mediterranean. Med-Industrail Partnership aimed at establishing a direct dialogue between Med and EU SMEs working in the same sectors, generating personal relationships and increased commercial partnerships: workshops and BtoBs, an itinerant mission of EU enterprises in Maghreb and a guidebook on companionship methodology have consolidated the experience.
35. Med Industrial Partnerships II - Companionship and coaching extended to Euromed (Phase 2) Leader: ADECI (France) Partners: Groupement des Info Centres de Wallonie (Belgium), UNIDO (France), World Trade center (Algeria), Chambre tuniso-française de Commerce et d’Industrie (Tunisia), CGEM - Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc (Morocco), CCFE (Egypt) The industrial partnership method consists in encouraging closer ties between entrepreneurs of the same profession, who through exchanges of ideas concerning their respective know-how, can easily identify their complementarities. It highlights the importance of the human contact in a partnership process, and promotes co-contracting rather than sub-contracting. Thetwo Med Industrial Partnership initiatives have reinforced and disseminated this approach by the building of a Maghreb then Mediterranean network of organisations committed to follow a common charter. Sustainable and well-balanced partnerships between Euromed companies have therefore been created, leading to long term technical, technological or financial business relations.
36. PaperMed - Cooperation on mechanical equipment for paper industries Leader: Lucca Promos (Italia); Partners: Confédération générale des entreprises algériennes (Algeria), UnionCamere (Italia), ASPIN (Italie), CCI Tétouan (Morocco), MEDEF-CODIFOR (France) The PaperMed initiative has promoted a tighter cooperation between SMEs from the two rims of the Mediterranean in thesector of material assets for the paper industry. From the North side, Italian paper and cardboard production positions the country among the four leaders in Europe but the local industry stillhas to innovate and develop partnerships to be more competitive. From the South side, in Algeria, private investments in the industries for the transformation of raw materials (fibre, alfa etc.) are insufficient and the majority of paper pulp is imported. In Morocco, 80 % of paper manufacturers are under-equipped. To respond to these challenges, and create synergies, PaperMed was undertaken actions on three levels: it has facilitated the networking and thecreation of partnerships between manufacturers; it has developed connections between business support networks; and has raised awareness among entrepreneurs on the environmental and human challenges faced by the paper industry, so as to improve the competitiveness of their businesses. 37. MEDA Industrial Heritage - Industrialisation of Mediterranean crafts & Ethnic Industries Leader: Federation of Egyptian Industries (Egypt); Partners: BusinessMed (Tunisia), Ascame (Spain), UHC (Greece), IMC - Industrial Modernisation Center (Egypt), CEEBA - Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations (Egypt), GACIC - German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Egypt). The craft and typical traditional Mediterranean industry has a strong identity which offers a good commercial potential for export. These products generally do not, however, comply with the manufacturing and marketing standards in force in Europe. The MED Industrial Heritage initiative has helped satisfy this need by supplyingMediterranean creators with technical assistance to develop new products suitable for European export markets and to promote these prototypes during international trade fairs. European experts hence worked in Cairo for one week with several creators from the Mediterranean to bring out 100 new products. Theseproducts were then presented in Paris, Florence and Cairo in the context of specialised trade fairs for decorative objects.
38. Mashrek Tex - Linking brands with garment manufacturers Leader: Federation of Egyptian Industries (Egypt); Partners: German Arab Chamber of Trade and Industry (Egypt), MEDA Enviro Network (Spain) The objective of the “Subcontract in Egypt” initiative is to increase the number of Egyptian garment manufacturers subcontracting and franchising to international brands, along with the necessary technology transfer, training and quality insurance. It has the ambition to attract investors by favouring joint venture agreements. The initiative includes the drafting of study on the sector, participation of Egyptian enterprises to major European garment fairs and exchange of experience workshops.
Leader: CCIA Beirut and Mount Lebanon (Lebanon); Partners: CCI Paris (France), SEBC - Syrian Enterprise Business Center (Syria), Cosmetic Valley (France), JEDCO (Jordan), Cosmed (France) The cosmetic sector in the Mashreq region uses specific know-how and a variety of natural products but is still quite unknown in Europe, despite its market proximity. Designed to unveil the potential of Middle Eastern industrial and natural cosmetic products to the European market and to boost the growth potential of this industryin the region, the Med Cosmetics initiative has associated various business supporting organisations to specialised clusters such as the Cosmed association and the French Cosmetic Valley. The initiative has helped to produce a diagnosis of the sector in Lebanon and in Syria, and to reinforce Mediterranean producers’ capacities. Over 200 business meetingsprovided Mediterranean enterprises – for the first time for most of them - with the opportunity to meet their European counterparts. The initiative has also raised awareness among them on the added-value of their products and motivated them to develop new actions to preserve their specificities and promote their internationalisation.
40. Furnish from Mashreq - Develop furniture concepts and exports Leader: Federation of Egyptian Industries (Egypt) ; Partners: CEEBA - Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations (Egypt), BusinessMed (Tunisia), GAFI - General Authority for Investment and Free zones (Egypt), GACIC - German Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Egypt) The Mediterranean furniture industry is an activity which creates a large numberof jobs, but exports very little. This initiative helped to promote the Mashreq as an attractive region for the furniture market, and thus develop its brand image and connections with international distributors and customers. During four days, it brought together 182 Egyptian, 19 Jordanian, 7 Lebanese, 12 Syrian, 27 French, 25 Italian, 16 Spanish and 11 Greek furniture manufacturers on site visits, business meetings and workshops.
Leader: CCI Cagliari (Italy); Partners: Unioncamere (Italy); ACC1Ó - Agència per a la innovació i la internacionalització de l'empresa catalana (Spain), CCI Tunis (Tunisia), GAFI - General Authority for Investment and Free zones (Egypt), CEEBA - Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations (Egypt) Nearly 30% of the global container traffic transits through the Mediterranean. However, the majority of this traffic is disembarked in the North of Europe to be routed towards its final destination. With a few large ports like Port Said, Tanger Med, Gioia Tauro or Valencia, and the increasein importance of challengers such as Malta, the Mediterranean should have the ambition to open doors to the Northern and Southern continents or this traffic. This assumes notably possessing effective port services. The Med Ports initiativehas associated a group of important players from five Mediterranean countries to work onimproving the port logistical services of Southern European and Mediterranean countries with theaim of developing an integrated transport system in the Mediterranean Basin. At the end of the organised exchange missions, training seminarsand business meetings, Med Ports produced a joint action plan for a Mediterranean port logisticscluster, associating the partner countries, so as to position Mediter ranean ports against the global competition.
42. Novel Euromed Post Services - Money transfers & hybrid post Leader: Réseau Euromed Postal / La Poste (France); Partners: Businessmed (Tunisia), MEDEF International (France), IPEMED (France) and 17 Mediterranean postal partners In a context of increasing international exchanges, it is becoming more and more important for postal operators to share know-how, experience and expertise, and therefore, to build synergies and economic partnerships at regional level. This was illustrated for the first time in 2007 in Marseille, when nine Mediterranean postal services organised a major conference to discuss increased cooperation in the fields of physical, financial and electronic flows. Consequently, the Novel Euromed Postal Services initiative was put in place to analyse the feasibility of the creation of a formal Euromed Post Corporation. Two opportunity studies were carried out to 1/ propose concrete action plans to enhance electronic and physicalexchanges; 2/ evaluate the current financial flows generated by migrants’ remittances as well as the services currently offered for such transfers. These results were presented at a meeting held in Alexandria in 2009 to high level post representatives: 11 postal services declared themselves in favour of the creation of the Euromed Postal Community (EPC). Encouraging innovation43. TexTechMed - Interconnections on technical textile Leader: EBN - European Business and Innovation Centre Network (Belgium); Partners: Cité euro-méditerranéenne de la mode (France), FIPA (Tunisia), Direction des investissements (Morocco), SYNBEA (France), MFC Pole (Tunisia) The vocation of TEXTECH Med is to initiate multi-player Euro-Mediterraneanpartnerships in the textiles sector, for a dozen or so technical applications for the markets of individual personal protection, health, transport, furnishing, construction and general industry. As a pilot project, TEXTECH Med aims at proposing by 2013 an analysis of the added value of the textiles economy in the Mediterranean and to develop future market niches. TEXTECH Med has succeeded in involving in its activities not only companies, but also business supporting organisations, clusters, specialised business parks, technical centres, training and research centres, investors and those responsible for the development of territories and investments.
Leader: Marseille Innovation (France); Partners: Cluster Libertis, Technopôle de Chateau-Gombert, Cité Euroméditerranéenne de la Mode, ACIM (France), Parc Technologique d’Andalousie (Spain), Casablanca Technopark, Direction des Investissements (Morocco), Pôle Elgazala des technologies de la Communication, FIPA (Tunisia), Ministère de l’Aménagement, du Territoire, de l’Environnement et du Tourisme, Agence Nationale de Promotion et de Développement des Parcs Technologique (Algeria) The creation of employment and wealth in Mediterranean countries will be guaranteed in the long term by the creation of new businesses. It is estimated that between 500,000 and 1 million jobs could be created each year by the new Mediterranean entrepreneurs. Mobile telephone applications, multimedia content, web hubs, and many more markets with very high growth rates in the South of the Mediterranean have a great potential for synergies between Mediterranean and European businesses. The E-3M business meetings have brought together more than 600 entrepreneurs from the Mediterranean ICT sector and have enabled the creation of partnerships between businesses as well as between the structures that support them.
45. Med-Tracking - Follow-up of containers and maritime logistics Leader: RMEI - Réseau méditerranéen des écoles d’ingénieurs (France); Partners: Invest in Greece (Greece), GIE Galiléo Maroc Groupe (Morocco) and 6 universities/schools member of the RMEI network (+ Axa, Groupama, STMicroelectronics, Thales, CMA-CGM, France) Being the centre of international trade, the Mediterranean concentrates around 30% of the global shipping traffic. Security, reliability and interoperability are the keys to the development of this sector. The Med-Tracking initiative has brought together more than 100 users of goods transport (road, rail, sea, air), industrial players, customs, ports, innovation clusters from 11 countries to study the implementation of traceability systems for containers in the region and propose a mutualisation of resources and competence. These players are now federated around an international group of economic interest, the “Med-Tracking Community”, covering Europe, the Mediterranean and recently the Black Sea. Work in the field has been done to understand user needs, propose innovation solutions on a regional scale while integrating the essential notions of intermodality, interoperability, fluidity, reduction of CO2 emissions, and the competitiveness of the ports.
46. Med-IT - Events and partnerships in the ICT field Leader: CGEM - Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc (Morocco); Partners: IFOTICA (Tunisia), XCOM (France), AITA (Algeria), Secartys (Spain), Promos (Italy) The information and communications technology sector is strategic for the Mediterranean countries. The marked penetration of the mobile telephone and the important needs for the upgrading of businesses in computing augurs well for the future potential of this sector, especially since the nearshoring market (call centre, support centre) has undergone massive development in the course of recent years. Invest in Med supported the 6th edition of the Med-IT Algiers Trade Fair with the aim of contributing to makethis national fair a reference in its sector, a regional event associating the other Maghreb countries, and developing partnerships between ICT businesses of these countries. Thus Invest in Med undertook the creation of a Moroccan pavilion and a Tunisian pavilion during the fair, each one gathering a delegation of over 20 businesses led by the professional ICT federations of the two countries.
47. DistriMed 2.♀ - Exploring new distribution channels for Mediterranean businesswomen Leader: UTICA/CNFCE - Union Tunisienne de l'Industrie, du Commerce et de l'Artisanat/ Chambre Nationale des Femmes Chefs d'Entreprises (Tunisia), Partners: AME - Association des Algériennes Managers et Entrepreneurs (Algeria), AIDDA - Associazione Imprenditrici e Donne Dirigenti d'Azienda (Italy), AFAEMME - Association of Organisations of Mediterranean Businesswomen (Spain) The Distrimed 2. initiative was introduced so as to facilitate the access of leaders of Mediterranean businesses to new forms of distribution, especially internationally (access to the European market),by training them in the standards of the retail trade and e-commerce, as well asthe opportunities offered by franchising. The challenges associated with these new distribution channels, as well as the necessary adjustment to the practices of the peripheral players (logistics, financial organisanisations, legal advisers, etc.) were dealt with during training workshops, individualised coaching and participation in dedicated professional trade shows;the objective being to turn the selected businesses into success stories likely to convince Mediterranean SMEs.
Leader: International Chamber of Commerce Syria (Syria); Partners: CGEM - Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc (Morocco), SEBC - Syrian Enterprise and Business Centre (Syria), Estonian CCI (Estonia), CCIA Beirut Mount Lebanon (Lebanon), ACC1Ó - Agència per a la innovació i la internacionalització de l'empresa catalana (Spain) The use of new technologies and especially Internet for marketing purposes is still not widespread in certain Euro-Mediterranean countries, yet they are an essential element for the improvement of competitiveness in all businesses.Med Digital therefore aimed to improve the competence of economic operators in e-business techniques (strategic digital marketing) so as to better support businesses in this domain. ICC Syria has called upon qualified partners such as the Catalan competitiveness agency, ACC1Ò, to carry out all the operations. They have provided a state of affairs of the situation in the target countries (Lebanon, Syria and Morocco). A tool used to analyse internet sites with the aim of optimising e-business was also developed and transferred to the MED partners during a training session in Estonia, where consultants and Business Support Organisations (BSOs) were able to exchange ideas on the subject. Experiments carried out with SMEs from the region through personalised support was then used to evalu ate the application of the results of this new service in the field. |
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.