UfM Finance Ministers underline need for cooperation

Finance Ministers from the countries of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) have underlined the importance they attach to continuing cooperation involving all partner countries in the region to foster growth and economic integration. The ministers were attending a Euro-Mediterranean ECOFIN meeting in Brussels on July 7.

In their joint conclusions, Ministers welcomed the “forceful and coordinated actions” taken in the region to stabilise the financial sector and the stimulus measures to support economic growth in the wake of the ongoing global economic and financial crisis. “Against this background, Ministers shared the conviction that the Union for the Mediterranean plays an important role in addressing the common socioeconomic challenges facing the Euro-Mediterranean region,” the conclusions said.

Ministers also welcomed the mobilisation of development institutions, also emphasised at the last UfM Ministers’ meeting in Paris on sustainable development, in order to facilitate access to funding for projects. At that meeting, the conclusions said, the European Investment Bank, the Agence Française de Développement and the German KfW Bankengruppe announced a joint investment programme of €5 billion for renewable energy.

The Ministers took note of the launch of InfraMed, a long-term investment fund set up at the end of April 2009 in Alexandria, which will contribute to complement existing instruments such as the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (FEMIP), by investing primarily in greenfield projects to build urban, energy and transport infrastructure in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region.

The meeting also reviewed progress with the reform process, described as “crucial in ensuring sustainable growth and [to] raise growth potential as soon as the recovery takes hold”. Ministers reaffirmed their continued commitment and full support to implementing key structural reforms suited to each country to help their economies to recover in the aftermath of the crisis.

Ministers agreed to meet again in 2010 in a place and on a date to be determined by the cochairs of the next UfM ECOFIN ministerial meeting.

UfM ECOFIN Ministerial Meeting – Joint Conclusions

ENPI Info Centre – FEMIP steps up action to help Mediterranean through crisis

External Relations – The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership

UfM Ministers’ meeting on sustainable development, Paris, 25 June 2009 – press pack (FR)

Contact information	n/a
News type	Inbrief
File link	http://www.enpi-info.eu/mainmed.php?id_type=1&id=19021&lang_id=450
Source of information	ENPI Info Centre
Keyword(s)	ENPI, Union for the Mediterranean, Mediterranean-Union
Subject(s)	ENERGY , FINANCE-ECONOMY , INFRASTRUCTURES , NATURAL MEDIUM , POLICY-WATER POLICY AND WATER MANAGEMENT , PREVENTION AND NUISANCES POLLUTION
Relation	http://www.semide.net/initiatives/mediterranean-union
Geographical coverage	Euromed
News date	08/07/2009
Working language(s)	ENGLISH , FRENCH

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