ASCAME unveils  MedaWeek Barcelona 2024 at a press conference

Countdown to the 18th edition of the Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders

On the 15th of October, ASCAME and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Navigation presented at a press conference the 18th edition of the Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders, MedaWeek Barcelona 2024, to be held on the 29th and 30th of October at Casa Llotja de Mar in Barcelona. The conference counted on the presence of Mr. Josep Santacreu, President of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Navigation, and Mr. Anwar Zibaoui, ASCAME's General Coordinator, who agreed that MedaWeek is a unique opportunity for all companies in the Mediterranean to seek common solutions to the challenges posed by the new geopolitical context. To Mr. Santacreu, "The Mediterranean and the EU must write a new chapter in their history with a new roadmap that responds to new economic, geopolitical, security, or climate change-related challenges". To Mr. Zibaoui, "We cannot change the past but build a new history with no borders and prejudices. To do this, we need the active involvement of Mediterranean businesses to ensure the stability and prosperity of our populations".

MedaWeek Barcelona, which is co-financed by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, is the world’s leading event for the economic development of the Mediterranean region which brings together Mediterranean institutional and governmental representatives, CEOs and entrepreneurs from different sectors, and international experts to debate and find common solutions on current challenges in the region and establish business connections with the region’s decision-makers. This year's edition will count on the participation of more than 40 institutions and organizations, thousands of CEOs, and professionals from more than 45 countries. Under the claim 'The sea that unites three continents', this new edition of MedaWeek will become the main platform for constructing a common future between the two shores of the region, based on new technologies, innovation, digital transformation, green and blue economies, renewable energy, and new opportunities in food, tourism, audiovisual and sports industries.

MedaWomen 2024: Women's leadership without borders

Mediterranean women entrepreneurs met in Tangier on the 3 and 4 October

The Moroccan city of Tangier held on October the 16th edition of MedaWomen, the reference forum for women entrepreneurs in the Mediterranean region. The event, organized by the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services of the Tangier Tetouan Al Hoceima Region (CCIS-TTA) and the Association des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises du Maroc (AFEM), consolidated as the main platform for analyzing the main challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in the Mediterranean, discussing development alternatives, learning about regional and international experiences, and creating synergies and partnerships with players from a wide range of sectors.

After 15 editions, this forum has consolidated its position as the main meeting point for decision-makers, associations, women entrepreneurs, financial institutions, and development players in general. Under the theme “From the Mediterranean to the world. Women’s leadership without borders”, this year’s edition focused on the impact of women entrepreneurs on Mediterranean economic development and worldwide. 

As part of MedaWomen, we also celebrated a new edition of MedaCosmetics, the platform for promoting the products and values of Mediterranean cosmetics. The event included two brainstorming sessions: "Mediterranean Achievements in the Promotion of Artisanal and industrial cosmetics" and "Innovation, Cooperation and Women's leadership in the Mediterranean Cosmetics Industry: Emerging Trends and Challenges".

📍 MEMBER'S CORNER

Interview with Mr. Pere Navarro, Special Delegate of the State in the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona: "Southern Mediterranean countries want to replicate

the DFactory model"

DFactory Barcelona has positioned the Catalan capital as the epicenter of the new economy. The space, driven by the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB), has become the largest Industry 4.0 ecosystem in southern Europe, favoring synergies between start-ups, innovation centers, laboratories, and large corporations. DFactory hosts a total of 30 companies in robotics, 3D printing, AI, blockchain technology, and virtual reality. It is a meeting space between the most innovative technologies and the best talent, the keys to developing new technologies.

All these innovations are unveiled each year at three key events organized by the CZFB: the Barcelona New Economy Week (BNEW), the Barcelona Woman Acceleration Week (BWAW), focused on value-added activities to move towards gender equality, and SIL Barcelona, the International Logistics Exhibition. Following the closing of BNEW a few days ago, Mr. Pere Navarro, Special Delegate of the State in the CZFB, tells us about the new business and industrial paradigm that has emerged as a result of digitalization and the unstoppable advance of new emerging technologies, such as AI, cloud computing or the 4.0 economy.

ASCAME Insights

Mr. Anwar Zibaoui,

ASCAME's General Coordinator, claims cooperation between the Mediterranean countries to face the crisis in the Middle East

Mr. Zibaoui analyzes the impact of the crisis on the Mediterranean region in an article published on 'Expansión'

The escalation of tension in the Middle East has a direct impact on the Mediterranean region, especially in the countries of the eastern fringe. In this context, Mr. Anwar Zibaoui, ASCAME's General Coordinator, calls for more cooperation between the Mediterranean countries to face the crisis in the Middle East.

In an article published in Expansión, Mr. Zibaoui pointed out that  "the Mediterranean needs economic development and stability instead of wars, uncertainty, and indifference".  In his opinion, "It is necessary to open channels, return to the negotiating table, explore common solutions, restore neighborly relations, and manage the enormous resources to improve citizens' lives”.

ASCAME Webinar on cooperation opportunities between Mediterranean and Canadian SMEs

The webinar was hosted by ASCAME and the Canadian Chamber in Italy to explore synergies between both regions

In September, we explored the cooperation opportunities between Mediterranean and Canadian SMEs in the webinar Unlock the potential for cooperation between Mediterranean SMEs in the Mediterranean and Canada. The webinar, hosted by ASCAME and the Canadian Chamber in Italy, focused on emerging sectors such as AI, the IoT, and the Horizon Europe Programme’s contribution to fostering strategic transatlantic partnerships.

Within the session, we counted on three experts who reflected on innovation beyond borders and analyzed the current good moment to doing business in Canada.  The three speakers were: Ms. Roberta Alberti, Canada Investment Officer at the Consulate of Canada in Milan, Mr. Walter Knitl, President at AIoT Canada, and Mr. Christian Violi, Head of European Projects at the Canadian Chamber in Italy. 

ASCAME Projects

The Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute takes ECO-CRUISING FU_TOUR  Project as a reference to mitigate the negative impact of mass tourism

The risk of a massive influx of tourists is the main challenge for the cruise industry in the Mediterranean region, according to the Environmental Impact Analysis launched by the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI), one of the partners of the ECO-CRUISING FU_TOUR -the EU co-funded project aiming at exploiting the green and blue potential of the West Mediterranean tourism SMEs-.

The CMMI has drawn a roadmap with specific measures to mitigate the negative impact of this tourist influx, focusing on the ECO-CRUISING FU_TOUR Project’s commitment to advancing towards more sustainable cruise tourism practices in the Mediterranean. These are some examples: a great commitment from local authorities, more cooperation in the tourism industry, and changing tourists' behavior.

ASCAME participated in the 3rd Steering Committee  of the Dialogue4Tourism (D4T) Project celebrated in Croatia

ASCAME, partner of the Interreg Euro-MED Programme's Dialogue4Tourism Project (D4T) participated in the 3rd Steering Committee, celebrated on the 16th of October in Porec (Croatia). This key meeting allowed partners to review the state of the implementation of the project and outline the main progress. Among those, the state of preparation of the Network of Sustainable Observatories (NSTO), expected to be launched in 2025, has achieved 23 Observatories in 7 MED countries. The possibilities of extension towards the North and Southern Mediterranean will set bridges in all the MED regions in a key economic sector for MED economies.

Regarding ASCAME, the meeting was the opportunity to show the advances in the preparation of the Sustainable Tourism Policy Labs (STPLs) with the recent selection of an expert to facilitate the design and implementation of the STPLs.  ASCAME’s Project Manager Mr. Luis Miranda represented our institution in this meeting.

ASCAME News & Events

ASCAME, represented at the 16th BRICS Summit and the WFC Europe & Asia Summit

On the 23rd of September, the President of ASCAME, Mr. Ahmed El Wakil, participated in the 16th BRICS Summit held in Kazan (Russia). This economic summit brought together the leaders of the nine countries that are part of the BRICS group (Brazil, China, Egypt, Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, India, Iran, South Africa, and Russia), as well as representatives of other invited countries. All of them discussed global issues, such as the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Some days before, on the 15th of October,  Mr. El Wakil participated in the ICC World Chambers Federation Committee and at the WCF Europe & Asia Summit, taking place in Istanbul (Türkiye). Our President had institutional meetings with M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye TOBB, and the presidents of different Asian and European chambers of commerce. ASCAME’s President claimed cooperation to face current challenges, such as climate change and sustainable transition, digital transformation, new financing alternatives for SMEs, female entrepreneurship, job creation, and new business opportunities.

ASCAME's General Coordinator, Mr. Anwar Zibaoui, participated at the 5th BNEW in Barcelona

On the 7th of October, Mr. Anwar Zibaoui, ASCAME’s General Coordinator, participated in the kick-off of the 5th edition of BNEW (Barcelona New Economy Week), taking place at DFactory Barcelona. The event, organized by ASCAME’s partner Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB), once again placed Barcelona at the epicenter of the new economy and Industry 4.0. In total, more than 10,000 networking contacts were produced and more than 350 speakers participated, offering 140 hours of content in a total of 100 panels, sessions, and debates. 

PRIMA Project Day Barcelona

Barcelona hosted from the 22nd to the 24th of October the PRIMA Project Day, an event launched by our partner PRIMA Program, which reunited 54 projects from the last two years with around 90 participants and got together the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) members, National Funding Agencies representatives, the entire PRIMA Project team, and other key actors driving the success of PRIMA projects. The event was a great opportunity to not only welcome new projects but also to engage in conversations around reporting, financials, legal issues, and optimizing project communication and dissemination strategies.

ASCAME, partner of

the Sun&Blue Congress

ASCAME is one of the partners of the  Sun&Blue Congress, which will take place from the 20th to the 22nd of November in Almería (Spain). This is the most important event in tourism and the blue economy in Europe.  ASCAME and ECO-CRUISING Project will participate at the side event ‘Sustainable Tourism on the Mediterranean and LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® workshop demo’, co-organized along with X23 - The Innovation Bakery, on the 21st of November from 3.30 pm. to 5.30 pm. Whether you are a cruise line executive, a port authority, or a tourism stakeholder, this workshop offers a unique opportunity to explore cutting-edge sustainability concepts and network with industry leaders. 

▶ Register now and take advantage of an exclusive code promo for a 20% discount (Code: X23ASCAME20)!👉 https://n9.cl/z2ssnh

Arab SMEs Summit - ROWAD 2024

The ROWAD Entrepreneurship Conference and the Arab SMEs Summit, held from the 18th to the 20th of November at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (Doha, Qatar), is a premier platform fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable development across the Arab region. This joint initiative by the Qatar Development Bank and the United Nations ESCWA will bring together startups, SMEs, and key stakeholders to drive economic growth. This year's theme, 'Navigating Digital Horizons', underscores the critical role of technology in business success. This edition will count on the partnership of 2 ASCAME projects – Interreg Next Med and PRIMA Program-and the International Chambers of Commerce (ICC).

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