ANIMA Annual Forum in Nicosia – Innovations for the Planet: Together for a Sustainable Future in the MENA Region
Published on 14 July 2023
ANIMA successfully organized its Annual Forum “Innovations for the Planet” in Nicosia, Cyprus, in partnership with Invest Cyprus and with the support of the EBSOMED and Euromed Clusters Forward projects funded by the European Union, from July 10th to July 12th, 2023. The event brought together over 150 leaders from more than 20 European, Middle Eastern, and African countries for a common cause: building a sustainable future for our planet.
As part of the forum, ANIMA also convened its members during its General Assembly on Tuesday, July 11th, to review the past year and prepare the network’s future.
Day 1: Building a Sustainable Future Together – Environmental Challenges
The first day began with a notable introduction by Emmanuel Noutary, General Delegate ANIMA, who shed light on the environmental challenges facing the region and emphasized their impact on businesses. Tarak Cherif, President of ANIMA, and Evgenios Evgeniou, Chairman of INVEST CYPRUS, warmly welcomed the participants. They emphasized the crucial importance of this event in addressing the region’s environmental challenges and encouraging innovation and the transition towards a sustainable future. Additionally, welcome speeches were delivered by Charalambos Papatryfonos, Directorate for Research and Innovation, and Constantinos Yiorkadjis, Mayor of the Nicosia Municipality, highlighting Cyprus’s commitment to this initiative and its role in promoting sustainable development in the Mediterranean region.
ANIMA Annual Forum Innovations for the Planet featured an exciting sequence of events:
Firstly, a famous Icebreaker was initiated by Emmanuel Noutary. This playful and interactive exercise allowed participants to break the ice and foster exchanges and interactions among the attendees.
Next, an inspiring session on regenerative innovation was led by Carlos Alvarez Pereira, Vice-President of the Club of Rome. During this session, the speakers highlighted the importance of mobilizing key stakeholders from the business and innovation world to tackle the region’s environmental challenges. They also emphasized the urgency of devising a solid roadmap for the transition towards a sustainable future. Among the speakers were Naoufal Chama, CEO and Founder of Digimind Morocco; Albert Ferrari, CEO of DIFMAQ (Spain); Sonia Barka, General Delegate of ATIC – Tunisian Association of Capital Investors (Tunisia); Mahab Anis, CEO of Innovety (Egypt); Sylvie Cogneau, Partnerships Officer in Europe, Department of International and European Affairs, Bpifrance; Lilia Naas, Director for North Africa and Arab countries, International Trade Centre (ITC).
Finally, workshops on collective intelligence focused on supply chains, circular economy, innovation, digital transformation, and financing the transition, animated by Zoé Lucon, Senior expert ANIMA, interspersed with networking sessions, creating a conducive space for contributing to the debate and designing a roadmap for transition to a sustainable future. These workshops brought together members of clusters from the Euromed Clusters Forward project, experts, international institutions, and investors, facilitating close collaboration among the various stakeholders involved.
The Forum also marked a significant milestone with the launch of EUROMED iHOUSE. This project, promoted by Invest Cyprus and ANIMA, with the support of the Cypriot authorities, provides a venue and platform of services to support innovative companies, facilitate technology transfer, and foster links between research and businesses. EUROMED iHOUSE thus opens up new opportunities for international cooperation between business and innovation ecosystems in the Euromed region. During the press conference, Emmanuel Noutary underscored the importance of this initiative: “With the creation of EUROMED iHOUSE, we decide to boldly contribute to Euromed collaboration: by hosting and promoting support programs for startups in the region; by organizing research transfer to businesses in the region; by collaborating with international organizations, especially the European Union, to implement cooperation projects between business and innovation actors from Euromed countries.”
Day 2: Exploring Innovation Ecosystems and Sustainable Policies for a Prosperous Future
The second day of ANIMA Annual Forum was dedicated to an in-depth exploration of the ecosystems necessary for the development of innovative technologies and solutions, with a focus on sharing best practices on public-private collaborations to promote sustainable and innovative policies.
A central objective of the Innovations for the Planet Forum was to promote constructive debate and exchange with economists and experts on supporting industrial policies and effective clusters, as well as fostering successful public-private dialogues. In this context, Myriam Ramzy, Assistant Professor in Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, presented a relevant reference study on policies and frameworks in the South neighborhood for cluster creation and development. This study, conducted in collaboration with FEMISE (Euromed Forum of Economic Institutes) and ERF (Economic Research Forum), provided valuable insights into best practices and effective approaches to encourage and support clusters in the region.
Participants were inspired by key presentations and transformation strategies led by Mathias Fillon, Chief Operating Officer ANIMA. Among the speakers were Dina Zabaneh, Leaders International; Lilia Naas, Director for North Africa and Arab countries, International Trade Centre; Nidal Bitar, CEO of ICT Association of Jordan; Vaso Kyrkou, General Manager of Communications, Marketing, and Stakeholder Relations, Enterprise Greece; Sonia Barka, General Delegate of the Tunisian Association of Capital Investors (ATIC); Radwa Kamouna, Secretary of State, Head of International Relations, GAFI (Egypt); Philippe Yvergniaux, Director of International Cooperation, Business France. These interventions were rich in information and innovative ideas, providing participants with a comprehensive view of the efforts deployed in different countries to foster innovation and sustainability.
During the session titled “Vision and Proposals for Euromed Cooperation in Innovation,” moderated by Marios Tari, CEO of Invest Cyprus, Cypriot speakers shared their ideas and proposals to foster innovation collaboration within the Euromed region, paving the way for a sustainable future: Kyriacos Koidinos, former Deputy Minister for Research, Innovation, and Digital Policy of the Republic of Cyprus; Viorgos Chrysanthod, CEO of CYENS Centre of Excellence; Stavriana Kofteras, Founder and Partner of W11 Ventures and former Vice President of the Research and Innovation Foundation of Cyprus.
A significant part of the day was devoted to exploring the Cypriot technology and innovation ecosystem. Participants were introduced to local actors, ongoing innovative projects, and collaboration opportunities with Cypriot companies. A comprehensive presentation of the EUROMED iHOUSE in the old quarter of Nicosia was organized to offer an overview of this service platform dedicated to supporting innovative companies and facilitating technology transfer.
Day 3: Designing an Innovation Support Platform – Collective Intelligence for the EUROMED iHOUSE
The last day of ANIMA Annual Forum Innovations for the Planet was marked by constructive exchange and a shared determination to design a dynamic platform tailored to the needs of all stakeholders involved, during interactive sessions of collective intelligence.
During the session titled “Key Value Propositions of the Euromed Innovation and Technology Ecosystem”, moderated by Angela Panayiotou, board member of Invest Cyprus, experts shared essential assets they can bring to Euromed cooperation in innovation, highlighting the key contributions of their respective ecosystems: Theodoros Loukaidis, CEO of the Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF) of Cyprus; Demetrios Zoppos, Co-Founder and Partner of 33cast; Alexandros G. Charalambides, Associate Professor at the University of Technology of Cyprus; Ramy Boujawdeh, Deputy CEO of Berytech in Lebanon; Naoufal Chama, President and Founder of StartUp Maroc in Morocco; George Saveriades, Director of Cyprus Seeds. These experts contributed to enriching the debate on the value propositions of the Euromed innovation and technology ecosystem, demonstrating the potential for cooperation for a promising and sustainable future in the region.
The morning concluded with a collective intelligence session aimed at proposing collaborations with EUROMED stakeholders. Participants actively contributed by identifying cooperation opportunities with this innovative ecosystem.
We sincerely thank Invest Cyprus – CIPA for their essential partnership in organizing this event. Their invaluable support mobilized key players from the Euromed region around a shared vision of innovation and sustainable development. We express our gratitude to the Bank of Cyprus and AstroBank for their roles as sponsors, enhancing the impact and reach of this event.
A special thanks also goes to Céline Taty, Office manager et event coordinator ANIMA and ANIMA’s team for their dedication and hard work in organizing this Innovations for the Forum. Finally, we extend our special thanks to all speakers, experts, and participants who enriched the Forum with their ideas, knowledge, and enthusiasm.
This event was organized by ANIMA in partnership with Invest Cyprus, with the support of the EBSOMED and Euromed Clusters Forward projects funded by the European Union.