Brussels, 20/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Brussels on 19 February under the joint chairmanship of Antonio Tajani, Vice President of the European Commission, and Hatem Hafez Al-Halawani Al-Tamimi, Jordan's Minister for Industry and Commerce, the industry ministers of the Euro-Mediterranean area have issued a joint press release in which they stress their full appreciation of the cooperation undertaken in their field and pledge to step up their efforts to plug the “gaps” observed in their support programmes for businesses of both shores of the Mediterranean.
The secretary general of the UfM (Union for the Mediterranean), Fathallah Sijilmassi, the president of ASCAME (Alliance of Chambers of Commerce of the region), Mohamed Choucair, and the vice president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Philippe de Fontaine Vive, were invited to report back on progress and outline their working plans. The vice president stressed the need to move onto the next level, by granting Mediterranean SMEs the full range of support instruments set in place for similar businesses of the region and to use this as a tool to encourage them to innovate. He pointed out that, since 2002, the EIB has granted more than €2 billion to SMEs, including €350 million in a capital investment fund and €35 million to fund local micro-finance institutions. He also stressed the need for increased support. Because, he said, “the business creation rate in the Mediterranean region is lower than that which can be seen in the other regions where the EIB operates”. Businesses created in the Mediterranean basin “tend to remain small in size instead of growing”, de Fontaine Vive observed.
The EIB wants to step up support to businesses and SMEs in order to make a greater contribution to job creation in the Mediterranean partner countries, whilst providing financial solutions which are adapted to these countries and the size of the businesses in question.
In the declaration, the ministers share the observation that a “stable and attractive business climate and regulatory framework are necessary conditions for the development of companies which generate jobs, increase national and foreign investment, intensify trade and deploy inter-business partnerships”. To the above, they add the need to consolidate infrastructure, which is a “powerful driver of socio-economic development for the areas which have it”. They share the view that an “increased liberalisation of trade” will lead to “balanced economic development” by taking greater account of young people, women and civil society in general. Their economic role “deserves to be amplified”.
Emphasis is laid on the role of driving force played by SMEs, which are promised “specific support” from the “public authorities” to be channelled increasingly to companies which have “growth and job creation potential”. Large businesses will have a “knock-on effect in including SMEs in global value chains and facilitating technological transfers”. (FB/transl.fl)