The European Commission and other countries of the Ag adir agreement will on 8 April organise a forum on investments in Brussels for c o untries of the south bank of the Mediterranean Sea, official European sources re v ealed.
The Agadir agreement, named after the Moroccan city where it was initialled, bri ngs together three North-African countries – Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia in addit i on to Jordan. It is aimed at opening the markets of its signatories to the European Union.
Its aim is to open the markets of the countries of the region in the south of th e Mediterranean in favour of companies of these countries and facilitate their d e ployment in the vast Euro-Mediterranean space.
A communiqué of the European Union on Tuesday said the low trade and investments between the countries of the south bank of the Mediterranean, compared to their
exchanges with European Union countries, constituted a hindrance to the developm e nt of these companies.
“Without such a development and the creation of synergies, the opening of the ma rkets of EU partner countries will only profit enterprises in the north.”
The Agadir agreement, which is open to all the countries in the south of the Med iterranean having concluded association agreements with the European Union, can b e differentiated from the other integration projects in the region by the fact t h at it is a purely technical one.
The ministers of trade of the countries of the Agadir agreement will participate in the proceedings of the forum that will be opened by Peter Mandelson, the Eur o pean trade commissioner.
Representatives of the private sector, enterprise federations, chambers of comme rce and investment promotion boards in the countries in south of the Mediterrane a n will also participate in the forum.
Delegates representing the World Trade Organisation (WTO), European Investment B ank (EIB) and representatives of the most important professional and sectoral fe d erations of the European Union will also participate in the meeting.
