The Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) builds on the Estonian experience to promote digital transformation across the Euro-Mediterranean region. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide spending on digital transformation technologies was estimated at $1.3 trillion in 2018, up 16.8% from 2017. Tallinn, 30 September 2019. Today’s UfM Conference on Digital Transformation and Digital Skills for the Future, which took place in the Estonian capital Tallinn, marked an important step towards the Union for the Mediterranean’s engagement with the rapidly shifting technological landscape whose character is essentially digital. The conference built on Estonia’s experience as a global digital leader… read more
27-29 August 2019, Turin. The UfM-labelled Global Initiative on innovative employment services for youth – YouMatch, brings together a network of around 90 employment service practitioners from 25 African and MENA countries within 9 interregional Communities of Practice (CoPs). From 27-29 August 2019, the network met at the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) International Training Centre in Turin, Italy to dialogue and share their experience with experts from the ILO, the European Training Foundation, the private employment agency INGEUS as well as the public employment service agencies of the Balearic Islands and South Korea. All the 9 CoPs had also the opportunity to brainstorm and,… read more
Social Economy constitutes a significant part of the private sector in the euromed region with more than 3,2 million enterprises and organisations and 15 million jobs. The UfM Workshop on Social Economy in the MENA Region and the Balkans is the first ever UfM event fully dedicated to social economy, with a focus on job creation, entrepreneurship and social impact. The Workshop was inaugurated by the Acting Secretary of State for Employment, Spain, and the State Secretary to the Minister for Tourism, Air Transport, Craft and Social Economy, Morocco. The UfM firmly believes that Social Economy is not only an… read more
Over 150 representatives of the private sector, civil society, governments and international organizations gathered in Cairo to discuss how to strengthen Market Access and e-Commerce in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The Forum, which comes as an immediate response to the mandate tasked to the UfM Secretariat by the Trade Ministers in 2018, is the first UfM event fully dedicated to Trade. The UfM reiterated its support to the Agadir Agreement and announced the launch of a capacity building programme in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The UfM region remains to be one of the least economically… read more
The Legacy event: ‘EU Med means Business – Shaping the future of entrepreneurship in the South’ focused on unleashing entrepreneurial potential, as well as growing and retaining talent in the Euro-Mediterranean Region, in the presence and with the active participation of young entrepreneurs and relative stakeholders. UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel stressed the importance of entrepreneurship to unlocking the creative potential of younger people and encouraging smart and creative solutions and business models that are functional, sustainable and resilient Brussels, 21-22 May 2019. The UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel has participated in the Legacy event: ‘EU Med means Business -… read more
Rabat, 29 April 2019. The UfM Deputy Secretary General in charge of Business Development and Employment, Rachid Maaninou, participated in Rabat, Morocco, on the Mediterranean Economy and Competitiveness Forum held on 29 April 2019. This was the third of five forums held in preparation for the Summit of the Two Shores – Mediterranean Forum in Marseille. The goal of the Economy and Competitiveness Forum, led by Morocco’s Economic, Social and Environmental Council, was to develop tangible initiatives to address the economic, competitiveness and innovation issues facing the Mediterranean region. The forum focused on the following themes: entrepreneurship and competitiveness; the… read more
Cairo, 11-12 April 2019. In recognition of the importance of the Trade file as a priority area of action for the UfM Secretariat within the framework of its Business Development and Employment agenda, and in preparation for the upcoming UfM Business Forum which will take place in Cairo, Egypt on 18 June 2019, a delegation from the UfM Secretariat headed by DSG Rachid Maaninou undertook a working visit to Egypt on 10-11 April 2019. The UfM Delegation held a meeting with H.E. Eng. Amr Nassar, the Minister of Trade and Industry of Egypt, as well as officials from the Ministry…. read more
At the fourth Ministerial Conference on Employment and Labour in Portugal, the member states of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) gave a new impulse to social and economic integration in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The Ministers highlighted 4 priorities for action, stressed the need to measure the impact of policies and agreed to launch a “Community of Practice” to exchange best practices. This platform will be coordinated by the Secretariat of the UfM. Cascais, 2-3 April 2019. On 2 and 3 April, the 4th UfM Ministerial Conference on Employment and Labour was held under the title “Jobs, skills and opportunities for… read more
Cascais, 2 April 2019. In the margins of the UfM Ministerial Policy Conference “Jobs, Skills and Opportunities for All”, which took place in Cascais (Portugal), a side event dedicated to “Signing of SOLiD Charter for the Promotion of Social Dialogue in the Southern Mediterranean Neighbourhood” was held. During his intervention, the Secretary General of the UfM, Nasser Kamel recognized the Charter as a major output of the programme SOLiD-South Mediterranean Social Dialogue, which is already yielding tangible results in Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco. He emphasized that “the Charter clearly consolidates the culture of social dialogue between the social parties with… read more
Cascais, 2 April 2019. The Secretary General of the UfM, Nasser Kamel, met today with Cesare Onestini, the Director of the European Training Foundation (ETF) in the sidelines of the 4th UfM Ministerial Conference on Employment and Labour, hosted by Portugal. The two sides stressed the solid and long-standing cooperation within the different UfM platforms that include the UfM High Level Working Group (HLWG) on Employment and Labour, the UfM Experts Technical Meeting on Industrial Cooperation, the Med4Jobs Advisory Board, the UfM Conferences on Women Empowerment, and the Regional Dialogue process on “Higher Education Internationalization and Academic Mobility in the… read more
