- October 15th, 2024
Yesterday, ASCAME and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce presented at a press conference the 18th edition of the Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders, MedaWeek Barcelona 2024, to be held on October 29th and 30th at the Llotja de Mar in Barcelona. The objective of this new edition is to explore new avenues of cooperation and dialogue between companies in the region to seek joint solutions to the new challenges arising from the current geopolitical context.
Despite the challenge of organizing an international event like this in the new multi-crisis environment, this annual meeting of the Mediterranean private sector will be reissued with the participation of more than 40 institutions and organizations from both the Mediterranean region and internationally, thousands of CEOs and entrepreneurs and professionals from more than 45 countries. The region’s private sector and top institutional representatives will share the actions carried out in their countries to address current challenges such as climate change, sustainable and responsible tourism, the new economy or the consequences of the crisis in the Middle East.

Under the claim ‘The sea that unites the three continents’, MedaWeek Barcelona 2024 will not only be a space for debate and analysis, but also a platform to create new business and investment opportunities, partnerships and strategic alliances between companies and between the public and private sectors, in addition to promoting the exchange of knowledge and innovation. Organized by ASCAME and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, with the collaboration of Union for the Mediterranean, European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona, Diputació de Barcelona and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, the event will feature a dozen sessions on emerging sectors that are transforming the Mediterranean: tech & new economy, food industry, tourism, creative & audiovisual, sports, and green & blue economy (including renewable energies).
All these sectors are of great importance to the region due to their economic and social impact. For example, and with an emphasis on tourism (the Mediterranean attracts approximately 20% of the world’s tourism), by 2024 the tourism GDP in the Mediterranean region is expected to exceed 200 billion euros. In terms of sustainability, the impact of climate change in the Mediterranean region causes losses of between 5 and 15% of its GDP per year, which requires greater cooperation from the region’s private sector to design viable and effective solutions to current challenges.
One of the novelties of this edition will be the presentation of the Mediterranean Annual Economic Report, an economic report prepared by IEMed on the private sector in the Mediterranean that offers a big picture of the region’s businesses and an analysis of the main trends and prospects. There will also be B2B meetings to promote business agreements and two sessions to explore the business opportunities currently available in North Africa -a new edition of the ‘New Africa Business Development Forum’- and in Canada from the point of view of AI and IoT -in the ‘Doing Business Mediterranean – Canada Business Forum-.

Shaping the future of the Mediterranean
Within the press conference, Mr. Josep Santacreu, President of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, and Mr. Anwar Zibaoui, ASCAME’s General Coordinator, agreed that the celebration of MedaWeek 2024 is more necessary than ever because it represents a unique opportunity for all Mediterranean companies to build a common future and move towards peace and stability in the region in a context of uncertainty and tension.
Mr. Josep Santacreu made the following reflection: “The Mediterranean and the EU need a different relationship at all levels. Both parties must write a new chapter in their history with a new roadmap that responds to the new economic, geopolitical, security or climate change-related challenges. It is essential to know what the Mediterranean wants from Europe and what Europe is looking for in the Mediterranean. This new dialogue must not only be a relationship between donors and beneficiaries, it must be a relationship between equals”.
On the other side, Mr. Anwar Zibaoui stressed the challenge of organizing this edition which will bring together the entire private sector and institutions of the Mediterranean: “We do not want to be on the side of those who only associate the Mediterranean with crises, emigration and wars, but neither do we want to ignore the current situation. We cannot change the past, but we can build a new history in which there are no borders and no prejudices. To do this, we need an active involvement of the Mediterranean businesses to ensure the stability and prosperity of our population.”
Both institutional representatives highlighted the consolidation of MedaWeek as the main platform that gives a voice to the entire private sector in the Mediterranean and the opportunity that Barcelona has to be the hub of the Mediterranean and the nexus of the three continents – Africa, Europe and Asia – to improve the competitiveness of the region and ensure stability through cooperation and dialogue.