| LEADING NEWS |
INSME and ANIMA join their effort to serve the Mediterranean SMEs
INSME is an international organisation serving SMEs worldwide (78 countries). Its mission converges with ANIMA objectives (public-private dialogue, support TO technology transfer and innovation in SME, economic development of southern countries). ANIMA and INSME will collaborate on capacity building and think tank activities, on technical assistance, and on promotion and information.
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Liberalisation of trade in textile on the menu for the Agadir partners
Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia have agreed on a joint plan for the liberalisation of the regional trade exchanges in the textile sector, to face the Asian competition. The plan was adopted during an economic forum which gathered on December 12 and 13 in Tunis sector experts and representatives of the four countries which signed the Agadir free trade agreement in 2004.
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Macroeconomic and political stability comes first in FDI location decision
The results of a survey conducted by UNCTAD and WAIPA on CEOs of multinational companies' foreign affiliates also show the importance of workforce skills, corporate taxes and telecom infrastructures.
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| BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES |
Algeria– Bank - Amen is looking for a foreign partner to create an Algerian bank with a 50 million DZD capital.
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Egypt– Telecoms – The government will offer the country’s second fixed-line license in January 2008 which will end Telecom Egypt’s fixed-line monopoly, and also includes WiMAX services.
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Euromed– Web – UBIFRANCE / IZF is looking for a consulting office to develop its web portal "export" in French and English.
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Euromed– Aeronautics – Dassault Aviation plans to relocate intellectual activities to countries with low labour costs.
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Israel – Bank – Government would give preference to an "international" buyer for its 10% share in Bank Leumi.
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Jordan– Port – Transfer of Aqaba port: call for tenders on a BOT basis in 2008.
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Lebanon– Telecoms – Privatisation of 2 mobile networks: applications must be submitted by February 1st, 2008.
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Morocco – Call Centers– Telefonica is looking for a buyer for its subsidiary Atento.
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Tunisia– Cement factory – International firms are invited to invest in a new cement factory.
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Turkey– IT– Deputy Prime Minister Nazim Ekren recently estimated that 34,000 schools across the country would have broadband internet access by end 2008.
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RECENTS INVESTMENTS IN MEDA
All foreign investments in MEDA available in the MIPO observatory |
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Algeria - Glass
Italian subsidiary Saint Gobain Vetri to buy two small state-owned glass-producers, Sovest in El Ma Labiod and Alver in Oran.
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Cyprus - Distribution
British-Israel Investments in talks to buy a shopping mall in Cyprus .
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Egypt - Construction
The UAE based promoter Damac to invest EGP 30 billion in a project in New Cairo, the first phase being called Hyde Park .
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Israel - ITC
Hewlett-Packard to buy NUR Macroprinters, a maker of industrial wide-format digital inkjet printers, for USD 117.5 million .
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Libya - Energy
Canadian company Petro-Canada to invest heavily in a joint investment programme with NOC worth USD 7 billion in exploration projects in the Sirte Basin.
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Malta - Electronic hardware
Italian firm Finultra to set up Maresi, a local subsidiary dedicated to the production of specialised electronic equipment used by the maritime industry.
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Morocco - Tourism, catering
Raffles Fairmont, property of UEA’s Kingdom Hotels Investment to operate by 2009 a new Raffles Resort Marrakech being built by Somed for MAD 500 million.
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Syria - Bank
Opening of the first licenced bank for microfinance.
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Tunisia - Construction
Bahrain's promoter, Gulf Finance House, to spend USD 3.bn to build a financial park and real estate development called Tunis Financial Harbour, in the Raoued suburb.
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Turkey - Cosmetics
French cosmetics giant to buy Turkish hair care company Canan for an undisclosed sum, after approval of the deal by local authorities.
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| > All foreign investments in MEDA available in the MIPO observatory |
| BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT |
Euromed– € 97 millions EUR for EU regional programmes in the Mediterranean
Important funds have been allocated to the social and cultural topics. MedInvest, new tool aimed at supporting foreign investment and trade is given € 9 million, and the FEMIP will get € 32 millions.
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Israel– EU money to support innovative SMEs in Israel
Israel just joined Eurostars, a new public-private programme that aims at stimulating and supporting research and development performing small and medium-sized companies.
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Jordan– Jordan's pharmaceutical exports expected to double to USD1billion by 2010
Apart from the many local generic drug manufacturers, multinational firms, including Merck Sharpe and Dohme, Aventis, Novartis and Pfizer, are conducting clinical trials locally.
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Lebanon– Real GDP growth between 2 and 3% in 2007 says IMF report
The Lebanese economy is proving resilient in spite of political instability.
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Morocco – Microcredit empowers women in Morocco
Moroccan microcredit associations granted loans equivalent to a total of 3.5 billion MAD (€ 320 million) in 2006, creating 4,000 new jobs, benefiting mostlyto women (66% of total job creation).
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Palestinian Authority – New Palestine-Israeli entrepreneurs association to promote the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
Called Palestine International Business Forum (PIBF), the association gets support from Swedish government and large corporations such as Volvo and Ericsson.
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Syria– New Syrian Export Promotion Agency about to be set up
A bill was approved that still needs to be ratified by parliament aiming at creating an Agency to provide services to Syrian exporters such as targeting foreign markets, matchmaking, training and assistance.
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Tunisia– Tunisie Telecom invest in the development of its broadband network
The Tunisian operator hired Alcatel-Lucent for the deployment of broadband networks early in January 2008 to deliver IP TV and Voice over IP.
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Tunisia– Freedom to invest soon to be the rule, and authorisation the exception
The law project aims at reinforcing Tunisian attractiveness by providing new legal securities to investors, and cutting the red tape.
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Turkey– Private investors, working hand in hand with foreign partners, are revolutionising Turkey’s petrochemical sector
Recently privatised Petkim for instance will alone be the target of more than USD 10 billion of investments on its site in western Turkey, while Ceyhan will see the construction of 3 new refineries.
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| AGENDA |
13-01-2008 to 14-01-2008 - US-MENA Trade and Investment Conference, Dead Sea, Jordan
This is a must-attend session for all senior business executives, investors, and advisers who focus on the big picture and who want to hear from some of the regions leading investors, project developers, and decision makers.
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21-01-2008 to 22-01-2008 - European Innovative Textile Convention, Lille, France
Organised by Clubtex (Association for the promotion of techno-textile enterprises) in partnership with the city of Marcq-en-Baroeul.
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07-02-2008 to 07-02-2008 - The 8th Africagora Forum - Paris, France
This forum will bring together economic African diasporas of France and Europe (Entrepreneurs, consultants, experts, managers, SMEs, etc.). The topics will be the investment and the diasporas.
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27-03-2008 to 28-03-2008 - Promoting Investment for Development, Paris, France
The OECD Global Forum on International Investment (GFI) is the annual meeting of a global network of policy makers, academics, business leaders, labour representatives, and members of civil society dealing with the policy challenges of international investment.
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