25 - 31 May 2000

Malta attends Euro-Med industrial summit

Dr Leonard Mizzi, director of the Malta Business Bureau in Brussels has just returned from Tunis, Tunisia after attending the 4th Euro-Mediterranean Industrial Summit. The Summit was organised by UTICA - FOI's Tunisian counterpart, in conjunction with the European Commission and UNICE - the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe.

The theme of this Seminar was "The Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area: A Challenge for Business".

The FOI delegation constituted of Joseph Zammit Tabona, President; Edwin Calleja, secretary general; and Mr A Bajada, council member.

Over 100 participants, mostly from Industrial Federations from the Mediterranean countries, participated at this important event. The final declaration will be forwarded to the Industry Ministers of the 27 countries (15 EU and 12 Mediterranean, including Malta) who will be meeting in Limassol (Cyprus) on 22 June for the Third Euro-Mediterranean Conference.

Following a plenary session, there were three simultaneous panels:

a. Investment climate in a Euro-Mediterranean free trade area

b. UNIMED project - this is the regional project which was launched at the event. The Malta Federation of Industry will also benefit from UNIMED.

c. Financing Mechanisms targeting SMEs.

The MBB is monitoring developments in the Euro-Mediterranean Area even though the immediate priority for Maltese business and industry is the EU enlargement process.

The MBB will be assessing how the various regional initiatives which will be launched by the European Commission shortly, especially in the area of innovation and quality, and the support for SMEs, will benefit directly and indirectly Maltese business and industry. Another priority is to benchmark the framework conditions and support mechanisms to SMEs and foreign investors in Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey, Israel and Cyprus

This exercise should enable us understand how firms operating in these countries are managing the process of structural change, whether in the context of the Euro-Mediterranean agreements - a basic free trade area agreement (Tunisia, Morocco and Israel), a customs union (Turkey) or EU enlargement (Cyprus).