News

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

Cascais, 2 April 2019. A UfM Ministerial Policy Conference titled “Job, Skills and Opportunities for All”,  took place on 2 April in Cascais (Portugal) as part of the 4th UfM Ministerial Conference on Employment and Labour. The Conference provided the opportunity to discuss the most pressing labour market’s needs, in particular the persistent inequality in the access to jobs mostly for women and young people. The World Economic Forum’s Human Capital Index indicates that the MENA region currently captures only 62% of its full human capital potential, which translates to a great margin for improvement if the bottlenecks of informality,… read more

Barcelona, 18 March 2019. The Secretary General of the UfM, Nasser Kamel, met today with Fakhry Alhazaimeh, the Executive President of the Agadir Technical Unit (ATU) responsible for the Trade Technical issues related to the Arab Mediterranean Free Trade Agreement (Agadir Agreement). The UfM Secretary General Kamel highlighted the importance and the opportunities of trade liberalization between the Mediterranean partners. He encouraged to continue the positive efforts among the members of the Agadir Agreement in terms of south-south and south-north trade integration, which also lead to the political decision to enlarge the membership of the Agreement to two additional members,… read more

Around 2 billion people around the globe work informally, most of them in emerging and developing countries, including a 68.8% in the Arab World. The absolute majority of these workers do not enjoy social protection, rights at work or decent working conditions, which seriously hampers the sustainable and inclusive development efforts on the ground. Most people end up in the informal economy not out of choice, but out of need in the absence of any other viable and decent alternative that would protect their rights in a properly-functioning labour market. The UfM Secretariat joins the regional and global efforts aiming… read more