Brussels, 16/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - The industry ministers of the Euro-Mediterranean area (EU plus the countries of the Mediterranean basin) met in Malta on 11-12 May and stressed the “context of profound change on the southern shore of the Mediterranean”, which makes it necessary to step up cooperation and to make the area more attractive, whilst encouraging investors “to show social responsibility in their actions with local businesses and civil society”.
In a press release, the ministers confirmed their willingness to reinforce the partnership between the EU and its Mediterranean neighbours and to “combine political and economic reforms at the service of democracy, the rule of law, human rights and shared prosperity throughout Euro-Mediterranean region”, particularly as, they stressed, “the crises, economic and financial, and the upheaval recently seen on the southern shore of the Mediterranean make euro-Mediterranean industrial cooperation more important than ever”. They laid emphasis on the need “to combine policies and measures in favour of economic development with policies and measures in favour of employment, education and vocational training”.
In this context, “promoting entrepreneurship, small and medium-sized enterprises, innovation, new technologies, investments and trade will help to create wealth and distribute it through the jobs they create, and contribute to a well-balanced development of the local regions, and thereby to general well-being, which will bring prosperity and stability to the Euro-Mediterranean region”. However, they point out that a good business climate and a stable and attractive regulatory framework are “necessary conditions” to make progress on this. They also reiterated the commitment they made in November 2010 to promote regional economic integration: “trade and investment based on a Euro-Mediterranean free-trade area (will be necessary) to help the Euro-Mediterranean region to face the very many challenges posed by globalisation and the current economic problems”.
They call for a continued implementation of the Euro-Mediterranean business charter, the principles of which already guide enterprise policy throughout the region. The ministers stressed the need to “mobilise the private sector, examine funding, intensify collective efforts and reinforce public-private partnerships in order to complete the projects of the Union for the Mediterranean”. According to the ministers, the operations of the EIB for the Mediterranean countries which undertake political reforms should be “increased by one billion euros, without reducing operations in the neighbour countries to the East”. The ministers looked at the current level of investment in the Euro-med zone and acknowledged that “promoting European investment and the diaspora in the southern Mediterranean countries is a key element for the countries of the North and the South alike”. (F.B./transl.fl)