11th Meeting of the UfM Regional Platform on Trade, Investment and Industry: The 2026 UfM Economic Forum will echo regional trade and investment priorities
- UfM Member States and interlocutors convened in Brussels to discuss current initiatives and current work within the framework of the Pact for the Mediterranean, including UfM activities, prominently the 2026 UfM Economic Forum and the outreach to the private sector in relation to regional integration.
- Several Member States presented best practices and undergoing initiatives aimed at trade facilitation, investment promotion and value chain integration across the region.
Brussels, 3 June 2026. The 11th meeting of the UfM Regional Platform on Trade, Investment and Industry was held in Brussels, bringing together national focal points from 27 UfM Member States that discussed EU initiatives and EU-funded projects on green and digital transitions, including the UfM regional workshop on digital trade and e-commerce in the MENA region which will form part of the UfM Economic Forum taking place in Cairo, Egypt, on 19-21 October 2026, as well as the state-of-play of the revised rules of Pan-Euro-Mediterranean (PEM) Convention, which will also be the subject of a dedicated workshop in the same Forum.
A special emphasis was placed on regional integration in the Union for the Mediterranean with a focus on trade, finance and infrastructure, as well as the undergoing outreach to the private sector on the findings of the 2nd UfM Progress Report on Regional Integration.
Discussions touched on the state of play of the Pact for the Mediterranean, including the Action Plan and the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy and Clean-Tech Cooperation (T-MED), which will be presented in the aforementioned UfM Economic Forum (Cairo, October 2026).
As of January 2025, following the adoption of the proposal of the merger by Member States, the UfM Trade and Investment Platform and the UfM Industrial Cooperation Platform have been merged to form the UfM Regional Platform on Trade, Investment and Industry. This initiative aims to enable the members of the platform to better address emerging challenges and opportunities in the region and worldwide and leverage the overlapping interests and expertise of the two previously existing platforms, ultimately leading to a more efficient and streamlined approach to trade and investment priorities and industry issues.
