ASCAME continues to deepen its engagement with key stakeholders across the Mediterranean economic and business ecosystem, most recently through a meeting with Spain’s Secretary of State for Trade, Ms. Amparo López. During her visit to the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce on 19 February, Ms. López met with the ASCAME team to gain first-hand insight into the association’s mission, strategic priorities, and roadmap for the years ahead.
The ASCAME delegation, led by Mr. Koussay Boulaich, Senior Diplomatic Adviser to the President of ASCAME, Dr. Josep Santacreu, and Ms. Andrea Mullerat, Corporate Development & Marketing Manager, provided a comprehensive overview of the association’s history, achievements, and its evolving strategic vision currently under development. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Roger Guasch, Director General of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce; Ms. Berta Pérez, Director of International Relations; and Ms. Patricia Jiménez Abiétar, Deputy Director of the Territorial Directorate for Trade in Barcelona at Spain’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise.
Participants engaged in a constructive exchange on the significant opportunities the Mediterranean region offers in trade, investment, and enhanced business cooperation. Particular emphasis was placed on ASCAME’s flagship sectoral forums, including Meditour (tourism), MedaLogistics (logistics and transport), MedaWomen (women entrepreneurs), and MedaWeek, as well as on the most recent high-level events held in Barcelona last November, such as the Euromediterranean Business Forum, organized by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMED).
Spain’s Secretary of State for Trade expressed her willingness to explore avenues of collaboration with ASCAME through Spain’s extensive network of Economic and Commercial Offices across the Mediterranean region, with the aim of further strengthening economic ties and supporting business internationalization.
Discussions also revisited ASCAME’s institutional trajectory. Since 1982, the association has played a pioneering role in Mediterranean business affairs, promoting dialogue, business exchange, and regional economic integration through its founding Chambers: the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie Marseille-Provence, the Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie de Tunis, and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce. In 2000, ASCAME was formally established as an association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, with Barcelona designated as the permanent seat of its General Secretariat.
For the first time since its creation, the Presidency of the organization is held by the President of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Josep Santacreu, marking a new chapter in ASCAME’s institutional development. The beginning of this new Presidency coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Barcelona Process, the landmark initiative that reshaped Euro-Mediterranean cooperation by bringing together countries from both shores to foster political dialogue, economic integration, and cultural exchange.
This anniversary comes at a time of renewed European political momentum toward the Mediterranean, embodied in the new Pact for the Mediterranean. The initiative aims to strengthen cooperation between Southern Mediterranean countries and the European Union, with the ambition of building a more connected, prosperous, and secure “Common Mediterranean Space”. This renewed policy framework is further reinforced by the establishment of a dedicated Directorate-General within the European Commission focused specifically on the Mediterranean, headed by a European Commissioner for the region, an institutional development that underscores the Mediterranean’s growing strategic importance on the EU’s political and economic agenda.
ASCAME representatives reiterated the association’s strategic role as the leading representative body of Chambers of Commerce and Industry from both shores of the Mediterranean, as well as a key interlocutor for the wider regional business community.