Marseilles, 20/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - The FEMIP (EuroMed Investment and Partnership Facility) Expert Committee, chaired by the EIB, which runs this facility to promote private sector development and to increase the EuroMed area's ability to attract investment, met for the first time in Marseilles on 16 and 17 February. The Vice-President of the Bank, Philippe de Fontaine Vive, who was chairing this inaugural meeting, reiterated the decision by the EuroMed Ministerial conference, in Naples in November 2003, to strengthen FEMIP, which was created in 2002.
The Committee of Experts is a focus group, made up of representatives of banking, investment, sectorial organisations and big business. Its 70 members will meet twice a year to debate and refine the procedure of "reinforcing the private sector and promoting foreign direct investment, to pave the way for the Euro-Mediterranean free-trade zone by 2010", said Mr de Fontaine Vive. The emphasis is placed upon support for the regional integration process via the development of basic infrastructure in the region (especially energy and transport), and on furthering the private sector's role via, notably, "south-south"co-operation between businesses.
The conclusions of the sharing of views and experience between these experts will be put to the next ministerial conference (foreign affairs) of the countries of the EuroMed zone, in Dublin on 4 and 5 May, and to the Council of Economy and Finance Ministers of the 35 countries, the new Member States of the EU being already fully integrated, scheduled for 7 and 8 June in Alexandria (this Council will thereafter hold yearly sessions). The Committee of Experts will design new financial instruments for the region to add to those in use (EIB loans, venture capital, call for non-institutional funding supported by guarantees offered by the Trust Fund set up by the EU's Ecofin Council at the end of 2003, which has 100 million EUR, with plans to raise the ceiling to 200 million.
FEMIP is a "key instrument", use of which will be further reinforced by collaboration between the EIB and international donors with an interest in the region. A "strategic partnership" between the EIB, the World Bank and the European Commission is being prepared, said the Vice-President of the European bank. The EIB has committed 2.1 billion € in Mediterranean third countries under FEMIP for 2003 alone, including 740 million for foreign direct investments and 400 million for SMEs in partner countries. This is a "record figure", at the end of this first whole year of FEMIP activity, even compared to the 4.5 billion € spent in countries eligible for accession to the EU. "There are no good projects in the Mediterranean which have not been funded", said Mr de Fontaine Vive, who hopes to see Mediterranean countries' capacity to "absorb" available credit increase, and, to do this, to improve the legislative and administrative backdrop, and the framework for hosting investment. The EIB forecasts investment of between 8 and 10 billion € in the region by 2006, combining the various instruments it manages. The objective, according to Mr de Fontaine Vive, is to concentrate efforts in order to achieve a "leap in growth" in the EuroMed area, to which last December's European Council gave its blessing by boosting businesses as well as investment, notably by expanding the privatisation process and modernising the banking sector in the various partner countries. The method for achieving this the EIB has decided upon, according to its Vice-President, is always to listen to the sectors in question: "in future, we will systematically invite business leaders" to our meetings, he said. A regional FEMIP office was set up in Cairo in October 2003, and branches will soon be based in Rabat and Tunis. Their role will be to co-ordinate technical assistance designed to improve conditions for project achievement (feasibility studies, preparatory studies for projects funded by the EIB, or assistance to their implementation or monitoring).
Mr de Fontaine Vive also stated that there is no longer any question of the EuroMed Bank project in the immediate future: "we have decided not to discuss this before 2006", he said.