The UfM and the Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI) strengthen their collaboration to promote socio-economic development in the Mediterranean

Barcelona, 16 January 2013. The UfM Secretary General met today with Mr Mourad Ezzine, Manager of the Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI). The meeting took place at the headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean with the purpose of enhancing the existing collaboration amongst the two institutions and promoting new synergies to support projects for the socio-economic development of the region. Both parties agreed on common areas of special interest for the promotion of specific cooperation projects, namely higher education, the knowledge economy, urban development and energy.

The UfM Secretariat is currently a partner of the CMI in four of its development programmes: Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), a programme designed to reduce the backlog in infrastructure investments by promoting a friendly environment for viable PPP projects; Water Resources Management (WRM), which aims to provide decision-makers with analytic tools to better address their water challenges through more efficient management of their scarce water resources; Sustainable Urban Development (SUD), aimed at implementing urban infrastructure projects incorporating planning-led integrated urban development and good governance; and Articulation des Réseaux Territoriaux – Local Empowerment (ART), designed to foster local participatory governance, facilitate local economic development and empower local communities.