Organized by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron, the Mediterranean Worlds Forum was held in Marseille on February 7 and 8, 2022. In line with the commitments made at the 2019 Summit of the Two Shores, the forum brought together civil society actors from the entire Mediterranean region to develop concrete solutions to our common challenges, and move forward together towards a more prosperous, sustainable, and integrated Mediterranean.

 

The Mediterranean World’s Forum ended with several key announcements that will be key in shaping the Mediterranean of the future.

In line with the mandate given to the CMI in 2019 by the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs to host a digital platform for regional project promoters, multilateral institutions, the business community, and private investors, the Center presented the outcomes of the platform, as well as other recent knowledge products in areas such as regional value chains or the energy transition. The CMI played an active role by providing technical analysis and recommendations on several of the Forum’s hot topics and presented its role as a federator of Mediterranean partners associated with the process.

Together with the City of Marseille and the University of Aix Marseille, the CMI co-organized a workshop on the need for a revisited positive concept of mobility to strengthen the employability of young people and to enable them to become real actors of change. Inspired by the CMI’s recent report on "Youth, Actors for Change: Rethinking Mobility", the session was an opportunity to present the main recommendation on the need for revising the concept of mobility of Mediterranean youth, notably in the areas of labor markets and education systems, and to generate a discussion with multiple stakeholders.

In a session organized by Aix-Marseille-Provence Métropole and ANIMA Network focusing on the solutions to revive economic exchanges in the Mediterranean, the CMI Director took part in a debate with a number of entrepreneurs from the Mediterranean. As a keynote speaker, she presented the results of the upcoming joint CMI-FEMISE report on “Opportunities for Growth, Regional Value Chains and Mediterranean Integration”. She highlighted the current post-COVID trends leading to the regionalization of the value chains, presented the sectors with strong potential for the Mediterranean region, and emphasized the need for policy reforms to improve the business climate and remove barriers to trade.

At the invitation of the President of the South region, and within the framework of the Annual meeting of the Mediterranean Investors’ Club, the CMI Director joined a number of major investors in the Mediterranean. Intervening as an economist, she presented the main post-COVID trends affecting global value chains and presented the sectors with strong potential. She also presented the CMI’s support to the Investors’ Club in terms of networking with international financial institutions, technical assistance for the incubation of projects and dissemination. In that context, she presented the digital matchmaking platform of the Dialogue of the Two Shores created and hosted by the CMI, and made available to the members of the Club.

In a session organized by Emerging Mediterranean and Entitled “Women For Good: Putting female entrepreneurship at the heart of the digital revolution in the Mediterranean!”, the CMI Director took part in a debate with a number of young female entrepreneurs from the Mediterranean. As a keynote speaker, she presented the current post-COVID trends leading to the regionalization of the value chains with digitalization at the core of the process, and highlighted this transformation as offering a unique momentum for an increased participation of women, youth and entrepreneurs in the labor market. She emphasized the need for better digital training and connectivity, to increase the employability of youth in the Mediterranean.

The CMI organized a workshop on the needs of regional investments, knowledge sharing and partnerships for the incubation of projects from both shores. For this occasion, the CMI gathered a group of high-level practitioners who shared their expertise on these subjects: Flavia Palanza from the EIB, Matina Deen from the IFC (World Bank Group), Anne-Charlotte Dommartin, from the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs on the SALAM project, Roger Albinyana from IEMED, and Aurélien Baudoin from ANIMA Investment Network.