The European Commission and other countries of the Agadir agreement will on 8 April organise a forum on investments in Brussels for countries of the south bank of the Mediterranean Sea, official European sources revealed.
The Agadir agreement, named after the Moroccan city where it was initialled, brings together three North-African countries – Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia in addition to Jordan. It is aimed at opening the markets of its signatories to the European Union.
Its aim is to open the markets of the countries of the region in the south of the Mediterranean in favour of companies of these countries and facilitate their deployment in the vast Euro-Mediterranean space.
A communiqué of the European Union on Tuesday said the low trade and investments between the countries of the south bank of the Mediterranean, compared to their exchanges with European Union countries, constituted a hindrance to the development of these companies.
“Without such a development and the creation of synergies, the opening of the markets of EU partner countries will only profit enterprises in the north.”
The Agadir agreement, which is open to all the countries in the south of the Mediterranean having concluded association agreements with the European Union, can be differentiated from the other integration projects in the region by the fact th at it is a purely technical one.
The ministers of trade of the countries of the Agadir agreement will participate in the proceedings of the forum that will be opened by Peter Mandelson, the European trade commissioner.
Representatives of the private sector, enterprise federations, chambers of commerce and investment promotion boards in the countries in south of the Mediterranean will also participate in the forum.
Delegates representing the World Trade Organisation (WTO), European Investment Bank (EIB) and representatives of the most important professional and sectoral federations of the European Union will also participate in the meeting.
