Brussels, 16/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - During a visit to a forum - organised in Barcelona on Monday 13 April by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) - on the role of the private sector in strengthening the Euro-Mediterranean partnership (which is expected to create “at least 5 million new jobs every year”), European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said that creating jobs is a “major challenge for the Mediterranean region”. Hahn said he believed that “to create this number of jobs, economic growth in the region should be accelerated by 2.5% to 3.5%”. This “is ambitious but not unrealistic”, he said, stating the region has “great potential”.
The private sector has “a crucial role to play as the main engine for growth and jobs”, and as key objectives, Hahn gives an important role to “education, training and apprenticeships”. This, he says, is “the best investment for the future of young people in the region and the best antidote to radicalisation”. The development of micro enterprises and SMEs is also “absolutely crucial for creating jobs”. And, Hahn adds, the EU “has stepped up its partnership with the Mediterranean region in recent years, providing large financial investment - around €900 million since 2011”.
Hahn notes, however, the “worrying” fact that “foreign direct investments in the region decreased by over 50% between 2008 (a record year) and 2013”. Private domestic investments are “also weak in most of the southern Mediterranean countries”. Around 15% of GDP, compared with 30% in central Europe or in Asia, is dedicated to this domestic investment. “This strongly underlines the need to create new possibilities for trade and investment”. Taking this approach, Hahn calls for the development of investment and trade (they are “two connected concerns”, he says) and this is not “an option but an obligation”.
The issue is reportedly now to know “how we can work together in the Euro-Mediterranean partnership” in order to “strengthen the role of the private sector as an engine for growth in the south of the Mediterranean”. Much can be done at the political level, Hahn says. The EU proposes its help “to improve the trade environment, especially through means of reforms to the public administration and cutting red tape for companies” in order “to create a transparent and open system for national and foreign investors” and in order to “strengthen market institutions and good economic governance”. The EU also wants “to boost SME development in the creative and innovative industries”, to contribute to “the upgrade of skills - particularly for young people” and “to facilitate access to finance”.
Alongside this, the EU supports opening up to trade and investment “because we believe that big markets create market opportunities and encourage investment”. Hahn underlines the South-South trade interest. “We encourage regional integration to boost free trade between Mediterranean partners themselves.”
Hahn also refers to the review of the European neighbourhood policy, which will be “the opportunity to underline the need for improving the business climate throughout the region”. Quoting the World Bank in 2015 on the cost of doing business in various countries, he notes that the region “suffers from a regulatory and weak administrative environment that puts a brake on national and international companies”. (Fathi B'Chir)