The first intake of trainee entrepreneurs from Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia has now graduated, having successfully completed a 7-week training course in Sustainable Business Management delivered by the INVESTMED project.

INVESTMED, an EU-funded project, will be running cycles of this training programme over a 12-month period, offering skills development and networking opportunities to entrepreneurs and small businesses in the green economy, blue economy, and creative & cultural sectors. The programme is delivered by LUMSA University (Italy), in collaboration with INVESMTED partners.

Virtual graduation ceremonies were held on Wednesday 10^th November (Egypt), Thursday 11^th November (Lebanon) and Monday 15^th November (Tunisia). Students presented their final business case for evaluation and were addressed by INVESTMED partners CEEBA (Egypt), Beyond Group (Lebanon) and BUSINESSMED (Tunisia), as well as Agnes Bihari, international sustainable business development advisor and tutor to students in all countries.

“We are faced with an opportunity to enter and rebuild the world of business based on principles of ethical leadership and long-term sustainability,” Bihari said. “Strategies and markets always change, but values do not. Business can be reinvented, and we must have the strength to do it.”

Graduates were encouraged to stay in touch with the sustainable entrepreneurship community in their countries and across the region on the INVESTMED community platform.

On behalf of all INVESTMED partners, congratulations to all graduates; a new intake of trainees in each country will begin their course this week.

The INVESTMED project is co-funded by the European Union under the ENI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme 2014-2020. INVESTMED has a duration of 30 months, with a total budget of 3.8 million euros, of which 3.4 million euros are funded by the European Union (90%).

The INVESTMED Project involves 9 partners from Tunisia, Spain, Lebanon, Greece, Egypt, and Italy:

• Union of Mediterranean Confederations of Enterprises, BUSINESSMED (TU)
• Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association, EMEA (ES)
• European Institute of the Mediterranean, IEMed (ES)
• Beyond Reform and Development / Irada Group S.A.L, BRD (LE)
• Institute of Entrepreneurship Development, IED (GR)
• Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta, LUMSA (IT)
• Rumundu Social Promotion Association, RUMUNDU (IT)
• Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations, CEEBA (EG)
• Spanish Chamber of Commerce, CCE (ES)