Cairo, April 12, 2017 – ASCAME has met this Wednesday in Cairo, Egypt, with the Director-General of  European Neighbourhood Policy & Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), Christian Danielsson,  EU ambassador to Egypt Ivan Surkoš, and Middle East Head of Unit Michael Miller, to discuss the regional economic situation, how to further economic cooperation and support stabilisation in the region.

The meeting was attended by heads of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers (FEDCOC), Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations (CEEBA), and bilateral Egypt EU Chambers as well as chambers from Mediterranean countries, who debated on current and potential programmes to foster inclusiveness and sustainable economic development in Egypt and the region.

All agreed that this is the time for concrete cooperation promoting free trade and supporting job creation, especially through the support of SMEs, as the key to combat terrorism and regional and global extremism, as well illegal migration flows.

Highlights of the meeting

The BSOs thanked the EC for its continuous support, and affirmed their commitment to the Barcelona principles as well as the EuroMed FTA, and requested further in-kind support to develop programmes in the Mediterranean region focusing on:

– Supporting reforms to improve the business climate with an emphasis on comparative legislative studies and regulations best practice adoption, starting with issues where the region needs fast reforms such as market exit and bankruptcy, licensing, land allocation, free trade, etc.
– Support SME regional and third-country cooperation through instruments such as partnerships and enterprises
– Support employability of youth through certified vocational training, which will also attract investments as well as increase repatriations of workers abroad as a major export for the south.
– Facilitating access to finance for (SMEs) to add value in the economy and to generate jobs, particularly among youth.

ASCAME, as the main representative of the Mediterranean private sector, will liaise directly with the EU in the coming period to promote further FDI in the southern Mediterranean, in sectors such as automotive feeding industries, ICT, retailing and franchise, as well as transferring expertise on incubators, sublayers and vocational training.