Meeting of the finance ministers on the "Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean"
- On: 07.10.2008
- In: Luxembourg
The meeting between the finance ministers from the member countries of the "Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean", organised in conjunction with the ministerial meeting of the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (FEMIP), will be the first ministerial meeting to be held since the Paris Summit of 13 July.
The meeting between the finance ministers from the member countries of the "Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean", will be an opportunity to identify the actions likely to stimulate growth of the Euro-Mediterranean zone.
This meeting will, in particular, allow the ministers to carry out an in-depth analysis of the main issues in the zone, at a time of increasing prices for oil and agricultural commodities.
The annual discussions on the action of the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (FEMIP), undertaken in the Mediterranean by the financial branch of the European Union, the European Investment Bank (EIB), will also enable the ministers to discuss one of the financial instruments for action to support and anticipate economic change in the Euro-Mediterranean Economic Area.
Lastly, the finance ministers will discuss in detail one of the specific projects identified by the Heads of State and Government, the Mediterranean Business Development Initiative, which seeks to better respond to the financing needs of Mediterranean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to ensure their growth. SMEs represent the vast majority of productive activity in the Mediterranean. The competitiveness of the Mediterranean Economic Area and its ability to globalise depend on the ability of these SMEs to expand and innovate. In this context, setting up suitable financial instruments in connection with the local financial systems is one of the ways to take up the challenge of growth in the Mediterranean.
- Updated: 08.10.2008
