Under the slogan “The Mediterranean, our common future” ASCAME will celebrate several events in different countries from the Mediterranean region as a commitment to foster a new beginning. This event coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Barcelona Process and the birth of the Euro-Mediterranean Association, which transformed the Mediterranean into an area of dialogue and interchange.
ASCAME, a pioneer from 1982 in this economic co-operation and entrepreneurship between the two shores, will promote several initiatives and events in different countries of the region, confirming its commitment for the Mediterranean, for the continuity of this process, and supporting the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). In the framework of the Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and ASCAME ratified their commitment with an agreement to strengthen the participation of the private sector in the social and economic development of the region. Under the slogan, “The Mediterranean, our common future”, ASCAME will continue betting on the future of the region and on a new beginning for the Mediterranean, which is more necessary than ever, through the promotion of activities and projects to reactivate the area’s economy.
The Process of Barcelona was born in 1995, with the objective of improving the intensity of the relationships between Europe and the Southern-Mediterranean countries, in the framework of a strengthened Euro-Mediterranean Association which contribute to the objective of peace and security in the region. In 2008, a new boost was given to the Euro-Mediterranean Association with the creation of the Union for the Mediterranean, an intergovernmental organization made up of 43 countries from both shores of the Mediterranean, whose objective is to generate visible and specific results for the citizens of the region. The work from the Union for the Mediterranean is fostered by a co-presidency north-south, which is currently assumed by the European Union and Jordania. Furthermore, the organization counts on a Secretariat established in Barcelona, headed by Fathallah Sijilmassi. The regional cooperation and the socio-economic development in the Mediterranean are the objectives of the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean, which promotes the growth and the prosperity for an area of more than 800 inhabitants.
The south and oriental Mediterranean region, with more than 300.000 millions of €, is one of the first business partners for the EU. 70% of the imports come from the EU, and 12% are community exports, with more than 15.000 enterprises established there. The EU is the greatest investor and represents 50% of the total. 40% of the electricity supply for the EU comes from the south-Mediterranean region.
ASCAME’s objective is the regional co-operation as well as the promotion of the Mediterranean and its enterprises all over the world. ASCAME is represented in more than 23 countries and in 300 Chambers of Commerce and Industries, services and enterprises. It was the first one who introduced the Euro-Mediterranean economic co-operation in the governments’ and multilateral organisms’ agenda.
The programme this year will announce new initiatives in the economy world, supporting the new co-operation framework in the common area with an innovative character, orientated to the construction of a basic axis of development between Europe and the Mediterranean in the process of creating a global and competitive Mediterranean. More than 20 events will be held, including entrepreneur forums, sectorial and multi-sectorial, in different countries of the region. This agenda will finish at the end of November, with the event of the Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders in Barcelona.
For ASCAME, it is at this time of profound changes when the Euro-Mediterranean Project is more relevant. The close relationship between North and South and of the Union for the Mediterranean is really important, with 800 millions of people, able to compete, share and contribute positively to peace: this the way to the future.