Barcelona will once again host next week, on 21, 22 and 23 November, the 12th edition of the Mediterranean Economic Leaders’ Week (MedaWeek Barcelona) under the slogan “One Sea, Three Continents: Sharing Common Objectives”. With this objective, MedaWeek Barcelona plans to consolidate itself as the Mediterranean economic bridge of Europe, Africa and Asia for trade and investment with the neighbouring regions and countries of the Mediterranean.
MedaWeek Barcelona, organised by the Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the Mediterranean (ASCAME), the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), together with the collaboration of dozens of regional and international organisations and the support of the Zona Franca Consortium, will have a wide variety of economic forums, business meetings, and institutional and international meetings.
MedaWeek Barcelona will not only once again be the Mediterranean global economic forum par excellence – with more than 18,200 entrepreneurs from more than 40 countries in the previous 11 editions – a meeting place for the main entrepreneurs, Mediterranean investors and large groups of international companies interested in investing in the region, but also, in this edition, will open its doors to the economic and business participation of Sub-Saharan Africa and the countries of the Gulf and South Asia.
Among the 180 personalities who will take part are Miquel Valls, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona; Ahmed M. El Wakil, President of ASCAME; Nasser Kamel, Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM); Aly Moselhy, Minister of Commerce of Egypt; Minister of the Government of Spain; Cheikh Kante, Minister of the Emergency Plan of Senegal; Maria Àngels Chacón, Councillor of Enterprise and Knowledge of the Generalitat of Catalonia; Ada Colau, Mayor of Barcelona; Ruben Hannun, President of the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce; Pere Navarro, Special Delegate of El Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona; Salaheddine Mezouar, President of the General Confederation of Moroccan Companies (CGEM) and President of the Advisory Board of MedaWeek; Ghassan Aidi, President of the International Hotel Association IHRA; Nejia Ben Hallal, President of the League of Tunisian Women Entrepreneurs; Mthuli Ncube, Vice-President of the African Development Bank; Geoffrey Lipman, Former Director of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO); Hisham Iraqui Houssaini, Director General of Microsoft Maghreb; Roula Moussa, Director of Netways/DisporarID; Almudena Solera, Global Head of Strategic Alliances at South Summit; Miquel Martí, CEO of Barcelona Tech City; Boutheina Ben Yaghlane, Director General of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations Tunis; Isabel Romero, President of the Halal Institute; Houda Allal, Director General of the Mediterranean Energy Observatory (OME); Khoudia Mbaye, Minister of Investment and Development of Senegal; and Mehmet Asutay, Director of the Durham Centre for Islamic Economics and Finance.
Anwar Zibaoui, Coordinator of Ascame and MedaWeek Barcelona, highlighted among the most outstanding activities, that MedaWeek Barcelona will tackle in this year’s edition, the innovation and the digital revolution, indicated that the Mediterranean has to innovate more to increase productivity, and this requires consensus from governments to academia and companies. History has revealed a correlation between economic progress and people who are innovators. There is also a correlation between social progress and the activities of entrepreneurs. 400 companies will participate in the Mediterranean Summit on Innovation, Digitalisation and Start ups.
In the North African Business Forum (NABDF) – the vision of 5+5 dialogue and the possibilities of the Maghreb as a hub for Africa and Europe – new investment and business opportunities are opening up in the region, the African Mediterranean, a fundamental space in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, occupies a central place in the project of the new silk route BIS China.
MedaWeek Barcelona will also bring together numerous representatives of the hotel sector to discuss the challenge of sustainability in the hotel sector, growth strategies in the Mediterranean and how to promote talent within the hotel sector. In addition, MedaWeek Barcelona will address this year the main trends and investment opportunities of the Halal Industry in the Mediterranean. The challenges of the Blue Economy, Anwar Zibaoui stressed that the Mediterranean must work at regional and national level to put in place and implement a sustainable maritime governance system that will benefit both shores and thus boost the economic contribution in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.