The Union of Mediterranean Confederations of Enterprises (BUSINESSMED), represented by its General Secretary, Mrs. Jihen Boutiba Mrad, took part in the framework of the European Parliament consultations in the Conference ” A stronger and more united Maghreb: addressing common challenges”, organized by the Group S&D on December 7^th and 8^th  2016.

The conference brought together the main actors of the Eu-Maghreb debate on a political, financial and institutional level. Among them, the Maghreb Union of Employers (MSTP), the Maghreb Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade (BMICE), the Institute of funding of the development of the Arab Maghreb (IFID), the Social and Economic National Council of Algeria (CNES), the Arab Trade Union Confederation (ATUC), the Maghreb Coordination of Human Rights Organizations as well as the EU-Morocco Joint Parliamentary Committee.

Recalling that Maghreb countries have shown a new impetus toward a closer cooperation and recognizing that the objectives in favor of socio-economic development, stability and democratic transformation at the national level will not be fully achieved without a deepening of relations between the countries of the region, this conference has been organized with the aim of launching a dialogue between European parliamentarians, political representatives and civil society of the Maghreb.

During her speech, the General Secretary of BUSINESSMED, Mrs. Jihen Boutiba Mrad, highlighted the main obstacles to the integration as well as the major challenges to which the Maghreb must respond (democratic and socio-economic reforms, corruption, deterioration of the environment and climate change), raising also the main axes of cooperation between the EU and the Maghreb. Additionally, she called for a major support to the private sector, in particular through the creation of employment, structural reforms in the field of education and vocational training and new measures aiming at encouraging youth and women entrepreneurship through the access to financing.

This conference was for BUSINESSMED the opportunity to respond positively to the initiatives of the reforms launched by the Southern Mediterranean Countries, in the belief that a stronger and more united Maghreb will be better able to address the common challenges – at regional and global level – such as an increased shared prosperity, the instability in the region of the Sahel, the migration or the prevention of radicalization and the terrorism.