Promoting inclusive investment in the Mediterranean: Launch of UfM projects EDILE and EMIPO

Barcelona, 10 March, 2016. The Member States of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) unanimously endorsed on 27 November, 2015, the projects EDILE (Economic Development through Inclusive and Local Empowerment) and EMIPO (EUROMED Invest Promotion & Observatory).

• EDILE is part of a regional approach and offers a label recognising investments that have a positive local impact, with the aim of helping to generate additional benefits, such as employment, subcontracting and environmental friendliness.

• EMIPO is an important Euro-Mediterranean project aimed at fostering private investments and business partnerships in the Euro-Mediterranean area by fostering SMEs interest in this regional market.

The Conference “Promoting inclusive investment in the Mediterranean”, which takes place at the UfM Secretariat headquarters in Barcelona, will begin on the morning of 14 March 2016 with the official launch of both projects and the partnership between ANIMA and UfM.

Emmanuel Noutary, ANIMA General Delegate, emphasised how this new partnership combining public and private actors “is part of a long-term plan to address the deficits in wealth-sharing, investment and integration”. Claudio Cortese, Senior Deputy Secretary General of UfM, added that “the development of the private sector, the support for the creation of jobs, the equitable division of economic benefits as well as the strengthening of cooperation and regional integration are the key factors for social and economic development”.

The conference will mobilise economic development and social economy actors from both shores of the Mediterranean, who will continue their exchanges during the EDILE project’s regional seminar on 14 and 15 March in the afternoon.

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EDILE – Economic Development through Inclusive and Local Empowerment

The EDILE project, implemented by seven Euro-Mediterranean partners and piloted by the ANIMA Investment Network, offers evaluation tools and a label on the local impacts of investment projects in order to support both investors and the organisations responsible for supporting and regulating investments. EDILE aims to help generate maximum positive local benefits, particularly in the areas of employment, subcontracting and environmental friendliness.

The EDILE project is being implemented within the framework of the ENPI CBC MED Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme (www.enpicbcmed.eu) and has funding of €1.7 million from the European Union under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument. The ENPI CBC MED Programme aims to strengthen cooperation between the European Union and its regional partner countries along the shores of the Mediterranean.

EMIPO – EUROMED Invest Promotion and Observatory

EMIPO will optimise investments and support the development of the private sector in the EUROMED region. The objective is to increase investments and business partnerships while at the same time monitoring and promoting economic integration in the Mediterranean region. To do so, it will encourage partnerships, as well as foreign investment, training and technical assistance for entrepreneurs, project incubation and the optimisation and evaluation of the impact of investment and international partnerships by the observatory. Promoted by the ANIMA Investment Network, the project will be implemented until 2017 in 28 countries of the European Union and 10 countries of the Mediterranean Neighbourhood. The target beneficiaries are investment promotion agencies, SME development agencies, chambers of commerce and industry and other organisations representing the private sector, professional associations, public and private investors as well as the Mediterranean diaspora networks in Europe. The current project EUROMED Invest (www.euromedinvest.eu ) is supported by the European Commission up to 80 % of the total project budget is 5 million € .

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