FOI hosts Mediterranean industrialists

Business leaders from the southern and Middle East basin of the Mediterranean, together with guests from the Italian and Greek employers' confederations, met in Malta last week to discuss the promotion of a Mediterranean free trade area and to strengthen the links with European business organisations.

The discussions were held as part of the general assembly of the Union of Mediterranean Confederations of Enterprise (UMCE), a business organisation, based in Tunis, which comprises the main multi-sectoral business federations from the 12 Mediterranean countries that participate in the Barcelona Process: Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.

Notwithstanding that UMCE is still in its early years of existence, it has already taken on a key role in the building of a much-needed environment for business to flourish in the Mediterranean basin; in the promotion of North-South and South-South trade and investment; in facilitating the possibility of opening markets to export, technological transfers; and in creating North-South and South-South clusters and supply systems, through its formal link with the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederation of Europe (UNICE), of which the Malta Federation of Industry is also an active member.

The Malta meeting was centred around the establishment of a way forward in UMCE's quest to reach its primary objective, that of implementing a Mediterranean Free Trade Area by 2010, in line with the Barcelona Process.

At the end of the meeting, FOI president Adrian Bajada expressed his satisfaction that Malta was chosen to host this general assembly, particularly now that Malta forms part of the European Union. "Our direct involvement in the founding of this Union of Mediterranean Confederations was inspired by the strong belief that Malta's new position within Europe would contribute to the Euro-Med objectives in a realistic way.

"Indeed, the FOI has understood the importance of the Euro-Mediterranean call and the need to create the best possible environment for economic integration and social and economic development in the region."

Mr Bajada said Malta always considered the Mediterranean as its natural home and that our deep and long-standing historical, cultural and commercial links have been conducive for this to materialise.

Omer Sabanci, president of the UMCE and president of the Turkish Business Organisation TUSIAD, also expressed his satisfaction with the way the Malta meeting was conducted and on the important role that Malta plays to bridge the Southern Mediterranean to Europe.

In view of this, he announced that Mr Bajada has been appointed as the special co-ordinator of UMCE with the EU. With Malta being an EU member state as well as a Mediterranean country, and the fact that the FOI is a founding member of UMCE and a member of UNICE, Mr Bajada's position as the FOI president would be crucial to UMCE as its special co-ordinator with observer members and relations with the EU.

His new role within UMCE will also help to reinforce the image of the UMCE vis-à-vis the FOI's involvement with UNICE.

On the eve of the UMCE general assembly, Mr Sabanci addressed the delegates, stressing that for the stability and prosperity of the EU to be ensured it is vital that the Mediterranean region would also be stable and prosperous.

"However, the challenges posed by the region can no longer be adequately met by the measures taken only at national level. Thus, international economic integration is the pre-condition for the smooth functioning of a political co-operation process," he stated.

We consider the Euro-Mediterranean Free-Trade Area as a door for the creation of a stable, peaceful and prosperous region. In this picture we firmly believe that direct participation of business circles of Mediterranean countries in the Barcelona Process is of utmost importance for the achievement of this goal."

The main challenge international business encounters within the age of globalisation is Competitiveness, Mr Sabanci said. "We believe that Mediterranean business integration falls short of being successful unless a strategy to gain competitiveness vis-à-vis other economic zones."

As the voice of Mediterranean business, like our European counterpart UNICE, UMCE has decided to work on this issue and learn from the experiences of our European counterparts on competitiveness. With this in mind the UMCE has introduced an 'observer membership' category for the Northern Mediterranean countries to enhance the representative base of UMCE and to accelerate North-South economic integration from the Mediterranean business perspective.

The Mediterranean Project and UMCE Competitiveness Day co-organised by UMCE and Confindustria last February is a preliminary successful example of how this category can support UMCE's efforts to achieve its objectives.

The setting up of thematic committees within UMCE in line with the status and the topics covered by the Barcelona Process: macro-economic; business and investment environment development; and technology, innovation, education, and research and development.

This is another initiative being introduced by UMCE. The first meeting of the third Thematic Commission was held in Malta on Monday. Foreign Minister Michael Frendo, who hosted a dinner on the eve of the general assembly, addressed the delegates, expressing his enthusiasm that Malta was hosting the UMCE general assembly.

He said that commerce and trade were always instrumental in bringing people from different cultures, religions and social standings closer, and augured that UMCE would continue to work hard at achieving prosperity and stability in the Mediterranean region.

Dr Frendo also held a meeting with UMCE president Omer Sabanci later in the week to exchange views on political developments within the EU and the Mediterranean basin, as well as discussing ways the business community and the authorities could work together for a better future for North-South and South-South co-operation.