The Secretariat-general of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) was set up officially at the Palau Pedralbes on March 4, 2010. It should be operational by mid- or end-April 2010. Four of the six deputy Secretaries-general (Turkey, Israel, Palestine, Greece, Malta, Italy) are not appointed yet. For the moment, the secretariat-general can rely on the assistance of the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Spanish government (buildings and technical means), the European Commission (support of 3 million euros) and the French-Egyptian UfM Co-Presidency (contribution via the "labellised" projects). A more consequent operational budget should be voted by the representatives of the 43 Member States during a top civil servant meeting on March 24, 2010. Some uncertainty is still reigning concerning the projects themselves, the heart of the new Union. No web site is available yet. In spite of this cautious start, ANIMA welcomes the new institution and wishes it to be effective, transparent and lissening to bottom-up initiatives (civil society, project holders, enterprises, NGOs etc).

ANIMA recently disclosed the most recent trends of FDI in the Mediterranean. According to its observatory (MIPO), the decline has been relatively strong: 541 FDI projects in 2009 vs. 863 in 2008 (- 37%); € 56 billion in gross volumes, vs. 66 billion in 2008 (- 15%); €29 billion in net volumes (amounts corrected for the multi-stage projects), vs. 42 billion in 2008 (- 31%). However, the 4th quarter of 2009 has been the best in terms of projects and this recovery seems to continue in early 2010. To download the slides.

In order to support Syrian business leadership and expand business network on a global scale, the Syrian Enterprise and Business Centre (SEBC) and ANIMA Investment Network have inked a Memorandum of Understanding in Damascus on Tuesday 23-2-2010. Download the press communiqué