Reinforcing of Mediterranean countries' associations of enterprise

F.O.I. vice-president Martin Galea, FOI executive Cecilia Vella and MBB Junior Policy advisor Janine Borg represented the FOI at a seminar organised by the Union of Mediterranean Confederations of Enterprise (UMCE), of which the FOI is a founding member.

The seminar, part of the UNIMED II project supported by the EU Commission, was held in Casablanca, Morocco, on June 3-4 and aimed at discussing the various routes available for UMCE federations to reinforce their structure and performance.

At this meeting, presentations were delivered on the diagnosis conducted on Morocco (the Association of Women in Business [AFEM] and the National Federation of Construction and Public Works [FNBTP]), Israel (Manufacturers' Association of Israel - MAI), Algeria (General Confederation of Algerian Operators - CGEA), Tunisia (Union Tunisienne de l'Industrie du Commerce et de l'Artisanat - UTICA) and Lebanon (Association of Lebanese Industries - AIL), as well as a presentation on the interesting project entitled "Programme d'Appui aux Associations Professionnelles" referred to as the PAAP.

This project, which is financed by the EU Commission as a partnership with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Telecommunication of Morocco, is led by the Confederation Generale des Entreprises du Maroc (CGEM) and provides Moroccan professional organisations with financial and technical support.

The seminar served as a means to inform participants on the structure of the diagnosed associations and their respective membership base, and enabled participants to learn from the experiences of the diagnosed associations and adapt any of the recommendations put forward by the experts who were commissioned by the UMCE to conduct the study.