Barcelona, 24/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - The UfM (Union for the Mediterranean) project committee held its first meeting in Barcelona on Tuesday 22 May. This inaugural session was devoted to scrutiny of a list of projects identified as priorities, and above all to the finalisation of more structured and professional working methods to give the UfM the aplomb that it has been lacking since it was first created. The new secretary general is aware of the major challenge that lies ahead - that of restoring the institution's credibility not only among states but also among investors.
The first project concerned, which is also the most complete project, is that of water desalination in Gaza for which there is already consensus within the 43 member states of the UfM, including the EU. Pledges of funding have been made and the EIB has undertaken to bear part of the cost of helping to identify the project. It is possible that half of the funding will come from Arab funds. The second significant project selected provides for completion of the trans-Maghreb motorway, i.e. the completion of a 22 km segment along the Algerian-Moroccan border, and an 80 km segment along the border between Algeria and Tunisia. Those behind this project for the finalisation of an expressway covering the three countries consider that the project should promote trade in the area in which, despite a number of political obstacles, the desire to integrate is increasingly apparent. Emphasis is placed on the “political impact” and on the significant economic and social consequences of the project.
The third project selected, which is also deemed beneficial for regional integration, is the LOGISMEDTA project for which the UfM countries, including the EU, gave their endorsement at the end of 2011. The aim of the project is to train software specialists and create a network of software experts on the southern rim of the Mediterranean for a total cost of €4.2 million. The EIB has shown it is keen to contribute with €1 million. Contacts are underway to “sell” the project to the private sector and to complete its funding. The fourth project, entitled “Women Empowerment”, is intended to facilitate the economic insertion of young women through the promotion of entrepreneurship in university syllabuses. There is a plan to hold female entrepreneurship days, beginning with Jordan, Morocco, Palestine and Spain. Finally, a project in the field of higher education (the creation of a master's degree in “risk science” in liaison with the Euro-Mediterranean Institute in Risk Science, by Sophia Antipolis (France), is on track.
Various other projects are being studied and their feasibility remains to be established. These include a Mediterranean Youth Office, a university specialised in solar technology, in Fes (Morocco); and the launch of an employment initiative for the Mediterranean for young people and women in order to increase their chances of being employed. A de-pollution project in Tunisia (Bizerte Lake) and another project for rail infrastructure in Jordan are also being examined. In parallel, meetings of technical and financial experts are scheduled for finalisation of the Euro-Mediterranean vast, emblematic solar energy project and the development of renewable energies (see EUROPE 10616).
Set in place by the new secretary general, the project committee aims to focus the tasks of the UfM secretariat general on the identification and promotion of “bankable” projects and the search for adequate funding. It thus aims to break with a practice observed until now, namely that proposals were carried on from one meeting to the next without technical preparation and without studies on the priority or timeliness of the projects being carried out. The secretary general and his six deputies, each responsible for a specific sector, will now prepare the decision of member states and will deliver - via the Senior Officials Committee, which is the political umbrella of the UfM - only those projects that have been carefully and thoroughly examined by the project committee in liaison with the technical services and administrations concerned in the member states and at the European Commission. One of the aims of the project committee is said to be that of creating “labelling” of projects and inserting them within a cohesive approach for developing the region. Recasting of working methods within the UfM must be comprehensive. A funding committee has also been set in place, focused on making funds available for projects that are not only at the initial stage but also reaching completion. There is also a third committee responsible for managing the way the UfM operates, and its administration.
Fathallah Sijilmassi, the UfM secretary general, has expressed his resolve to take the organisation into a new phase for effective deployment of potential resources and, as he put it, he has taken up his pilgrim's staff to go from one capital to the next, to call for an effort to be made and for the assistance of all member states in support of the projects selected, and to deploy potential private resources. His ambition is to promote better coordination of action between influential players, the EIB, the EBRD, and the national funds (German, French and Arab) and private or semi-public financial institutions devoted to the region. (FB/transl.jl)