More than 1300 experts have participated in the Medaweek Barcelona 2014 and in the 10 thematic forums including more than 60 sessions and business meetings

– A bet has been launched to develop a strategy of Business Intelligence specific to the Mediterranean region.

– A call has been made on a better economic integration for the Maghreb region.

– The creation of a Mediterranean Tourism Agency and a Mediterranean brand have been encouraged.

– The green economy has been described as essential to foster the sustainable development of the region.

– The launch of support programs addressed to the Mediterranean young entrepreneurs has been announced.

The 8th Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders ended on Friday 28th of November after three days during which 10 thematic forums and more than 60 working sessions haven taken place. With more than 1.300 participants, this event has brought together representatives from the private sector, political authorities and international organizations, making this event the main meeting of Mediterranean leaders.

The Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders, organized by the Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCAME) and the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona, has also counted on the collaboration of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), with which ASCAME has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding through which the common interest between both organizations to promote the Mediterranean has been renewed.

“A need for change” has been the main theme of this edition. The proposals that have been highlighted during the different sessions organized in the framework of the forums have been the following:

During the NABDF forum, the economic integration of the Maghreb has been presented as the best way to enable the region to be listed among the main economic blocs of the world.

The costs of the “disunity” between the Maghreb countries are estimated to 8000 million euros per year while the benefits of better integration between these countries should lead to a growth of 30% of the GDP over 10 years.

The integration should allow better exploitation of the existing complementarities between the Maghreb countries in the sectors of energy, agriculture, tourism and mines. It would also help to use better the existing human resources and to get closer to Europe and Africa.

The need of the Maghreb region is becoming opportunities for their European neighbours, confirming thus the potential and the synergies between Europe and the North of Africa.

In the field of Economic Intelligence, it has been underlined the existence of factors essentials to enable the Mediterranean to recover its role of economic power. In this regard, the implementation of a strategy of business intelligence specific to the Mediterranean, as an alternative of the Anglo-Saxon world, has been described as vital and has been decided to exploit more in-depth this concept for the coming editions of the Mediterranean Week.

The Mediterranean forum on Free Zones and Special Economic Zones has allowed the consolidation of an action plan in order to increase the absorption of the foreign investment and create a safe scenario for the future projects in the region.

The MEDITOUR forum, whose sixth edition has spotlighted Lebanon, has encouraged the creation of a Mediterranean Tourism Agency, as the main tool for the efficient development of a brand-specific to the Mediterranean. This initiative will allow reaching better profitability of the planned investment in the sector for the coming years, already estimated to more than a billion dollars.

The forum on entrepreneurs has brought together the experts of the business world, governments, banks, universities, associations of entrepreneurs and multilateral organizations. During the session, it has been highlighted that the high percentage of 50% of unemployed graduates prevents the sustainable economic development of the Mediterranean region. In order to address this shortfall, it has been discussed the implementation of programs, counting on the support of the universities, and financial and technical support organizations, which offer to the graduates the opportunity to become entrepreneurs.

The 2nd edition of the Islamic Finances Summit has called on the regional governments to implement changes and to adopt the legal frameworks essential to welcome this booming financial sector. The Islamic finances, with an annual growth of 20%, represent today 4% of the international finances.

Regarding the initiatives to be launched in the field of the green economy, the countries of the region have been called on taking the following measures in order to capture the economic flows planned for the investment, estimated to 100.000 million dollars until 2030 at the world scale:

– Raising the awareness of the businessmen and businesswomen to encourage them to adopt measures of sustainable development within their companies.

– Suggesting to the governments to support the concept of green industries with the objective of improving the industrial development and increasing the competitiveness in this field.

– Promoting to the multilateral and international organizations, the need to dedicate budgets and lines of technical support for the implementation of programs in favour of the green industry in the Mediterranean.

– Encouraging the green bank, as a tool for social responsibility, in favour of sustainable development.

The participants have described these initiatives as essential to allow the green economy sector to grow faster and to create jobs in the following fields: clean technologies, solar energy, water supply, green transport, eco-tourism, green edification and agriculture.

ASCAME has announced the creation of a representative office in Saudi Arabia, in agreement with its ambition to promote the Mediterranean worldwide. This bureau will play a role of technical support and will help the members of ASCAME as well as the Mediterranean and Gulf companies.

ASCAME, as a catalyst for the Mediterranean integration from the civil society and promoter of the Mediterranean association, has signed 4 memoranda of understanding with the Union for the Mediterranean, MedCruise, BusinessMed and the ICC/WCF.

ASCAME has also launched its first Mediterranean awards which, for this edition, have been given to UNESCO, VUELING and the Union for the Mediterranean. In parallel with the Mediterranean Week, it was held the XXIII ASCAME General Assembly to which the main Chambers of Commerce of the region have participated, following the meeting of the Executive Committee held the day before. During the Assembly, the members have ratified the lines of action of ASCAME as well as the new initiatives, including the 23 projects in which ASCAME and its network participate. The members have been invited to be involved in those projects.