The Union of Mediterranean Confederations of Enterprises (BUSINESSMED), represented by its General Secretary, Mrs. Jihen Boutiba and its Program Director, Mr. Marco Cunetto, participated in the final conference of EUROMED Invest at the European Economic and Social Committee‘s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on the 14^th of December 2017.

The conference was an opportunity to evaluate the project’s actions as well as its  impact and highlight the role and involvement of the projects’ actors, including BUSINESSMED as a member of the MedAlliance consortium, in the development of the region.  The attendees had the chance to discuss further collaboration and enhance the business climate in the Euro-Mediterranean region through best practices and success stories. During the implementation of the EUROMED Invest, around 2000 people were trained and 9000 organisations, such as Business Support Organisations, clusters, technoparks, incubators, start-ups and others, were benefited from the project’s activities.

As part of this project, BUSINESSMED has carried out several actions focusing on three main priorities: Women Leaders’ Empowerment, Good Governance and Social Entrepreneurship in the Southern Neighborhood.

At the end of the conference, Mrs. Boutiba announced the launch of a new 4-year project, co-funded by the European Union and led by BUSINESSMED: Enhancing Business Support Organizations and Business Networking in the Southern Neighbourhood – EBSOMED. The project represents and outreaches to 21 Euro-Mediterranean countries among 10 ENI southern partner countries and under the umbrella of the MedAlliance consortium members: 6 organisations and its affiliates. EBSOMED aims to boost the Mediterranean business ecosystem promoting an inclusive economic development and job creation, by enhancing the private sector organisations in the Southern Neighbourhood countries.

During his intervention, Mr. Cunetto presented the main results of the implemented actions by BUSINESSMED within the framework of the project, while stressing the significant mobilization of civil society, particularly women and youth, as the final beneficiaries of the action.