Brussels, 25/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - The 2nd Euro-Mediterranean ministerial conference on investments will be held in Lisbon from 28 February to 1 March, under the auspices of Portugal and Tunisia, in the framework of the "Barcelona Process". It follows-up the one organised in London in March 1997, with the same goal: open a dialogue between public authorities and the private sector in the 27 partner countries on the conditions for promoting and protecting investments in this zone.
The potential for investments in the Mediterranean are considered to be greatly under exploited. "Surveys that have already been conducted show that, in the 90s, FDI (foreign direct investment) not only increased very slowly in volume, but also shrank compared to other developing countries, especially compared to Asia", the European Commission notes.
The Lisbon Conference will contribute to studying ways of improving foreign investments in the Mediterranean, situating this in the perspective of the opening up of markets for goods and services that is being considered. Mobilization of private investment is considered to be the safest way to achieve transition to the goal of a Euro-Mediterranean free trade area.