Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Stakeholder’s Conference “Towards a Roadmap for Blue Investment and Jobs in the Mediterranean”
Athens, 27 May 2015
The Mediterranean region can tap further the potential of the blue economy. It can provide jobs and growth through the sustainable development of key strategic maritime sectors in this important sea basin. This can be promoted by increased clustering and networking of education and training organisations, pairing research and innovation capacity, matching supply/demand of skilled people and more access to finance. These are some of the cooperation and coordination challenges that need to be tackled. An Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on Blue Economy to be held in autumn 2015 would bring about the political mandate and provide guidance for the further development of blue economy and promotion of blue jobs in the Mediterranean region.
In preparation for the upcoming Ministerial Conference, stakeholders of the Union for the Mediterranean will hold an event “Towards a Roadmap for Blue Investment and Jobs in the Mediterranean” on 27 May 2015 in Athens. The meeting will provide the opportunity to collect input from all actors in the region, including financial institutions, academia, business associations, civil society and organisations and international agencies about the challenges that need to be addressed and the emerging opportunities for investment and jobs creation in the blue economy of the Mediterranean basin.
Back to back to the Stakeholder’s Conference, the 2nd ad Hoc SOM on Blue Economy will take place on the 28th of May in Athens in order to advance the preparations for the related Ministerial Meeting, expected in late 2015. The UfM Ministerial Conference on Blue Economy is expected to focus on key opportunities that need to be seized, key obstacles that need to be removed, and in particular the need for coordination and sustainability. In fact, the challenges affecting the Mediterranean Sea call for shared and, above all, integrated responses. This is particularly relevant when considering the increasing demands for natural resources and pressures on the marine environment, as well as the continued need for sustainable growth and jobs in maritime sectors and regions.
The UfM Ministerial Conference builds upon the work carried out by other UfM Ministerial meetings. The proposal for a Ministerial Conference on Maritime Affairs was featured in the Work Programme of the Union for the Mediterranean for 2010-2012 and was thereafter repeatedly raised by partner countries in meetings of the Working Group on Integrated Maritime Policy in the Mediterranean.
For more information, please do not hesitate to contact Ms Julia Trias on julia.trias@ufmsecretariat.org
