UfM Member States endorse a new project to facilitate access to finance to MSMEs in the Mediterranean
- UfM Member States met today at the level of Senior Officials to discuss the activities and projects of the Union for the Mediterranean for the second semester 2022. They exchanged on the state-of-play of the preparations for the upcoming Ministerial Meetings on Research and Innovation (27 June 2022), on Transport (3 October 2022), and on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society (26 October 2022).
- They further granted the UfM label to the project ‘Euro-Mediterranean Guarantee Network (EMGN)’, which aims at facilitating access to finance, in particular for MSMEs, by in four areas: training, research and development, advocacy and communication and knowledge sharing.
15 June 2022, Barcelona. The Member States of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) met today at the level of Senior Officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs for their second meeting of 2022 to exchange on the activities of the organisation during the second semester of the year. They debriefed on the latest UfM Ministerial Meeting on Employment and Labour, held in Marrakech on 17-18 May, and commended the launch of the regional Team Europe Initiative “Jobs through trade and investment” in the Southern Neighbourhood that will contribute with around €2.8 billion to the implementation of the New Agenda for the Mediterranean and its Economic and Investment Plan. They also welcomed the launch of the UfM Hub for Good Jobs, Trade and Investment Promotion, financed by Germany and Spain with a budget of €11 million, which will promote employment opportunities, finance projects on the ground and provide technical assistance to UfM countries to promote South-South trade and sustainable investment in the region.
Furthermore, UfM Senior Officials exchanged on the state-of-play of the preparations for the upcoming three sectoral Ministerial Meetings of 2022, namely on Research and Innovation (27 June 2022), on Transport (3 October 2022), and on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society (26 October 2022), as well as the 7th UfM Regional Forum and the participation of the organisation in the COP27, under the Egyptian Presidency.
Finally, member states endorsed a new regional project, Euro-Mediterranean Guarantee Network (EMGN), to support access to finance to Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the Euro-Mediterranean Region. Although they account for over 90% of all companies and employ a significant portion of the labour force, MSMEs remain particularly excluded from financial markets. The project aims at facilitating access to finance by gathering guarantee schemes around four closely related actions: training, research and development, advocacy and communication and knowledge sharing.
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UfM Senior Officials: The Member States of the Union for the Mediterranean meet on a regular basis at the level of Senior Officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the 42 countries. The Senior Officials Meetings (SOM) oversee and coordinate the work of the UfM. They approve the budget and the work programme of the Secretariat. They also discuss the project proposals submitted for the UfM label by the Secretariat for approval and endorsement. UfM Senior Officials take decisions by consensus.
