INNOVATION – Strengthening Regional Value Chains in the Mediterranean Basin: Insights from ANIMA and Euromed Clusters Forward Conference

The ANIMA network and the Euromed Clusters Forward project brought together their partners for a two-day event in Marseille on December 4 and 5, 2024. The aim was to provide an update on the strengthening of regional value chains in the Mediterranean. The subject is indeed gaining in importance, and represents a response to the need for economic sovereignty that emerged during the health crisis, and to the quest for carbon neutrality.

Thanks to its strategic position and competitiveness, the Mediterranean basin has emerged as a key area to benefit from the distribution of productive investments around the world, as close as possible to consumer basins. Subcontracting chains between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean are set to be strengthened to address the two major European and African continental free-trade zones on either side of the Mediterranean.

Day 1: Strategic Panels and Collaborative Dialogues

The first day’s conference, hosted by the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis, brought together members of the ANIMA network (agencies in charge of attractiveness, export and economic development issues, business associations) and the clusters associated with the Euromed Clusters Forward project.

Co-organizing partners welcomed participants and introduced the debates: Vincent Languille, Metropolitan Councillor in charge of international affairs; Julien Chenivesse, Deputy Interministerial Delegate for the Mediterranean (France); Tarak Chérif, President of ANIMA.

Untapped Potential for trade between Europe and the southern Mediterranean

Lilia Naas, head of the North Africa office at the International Trade Center, then gave a keynote speech that highlighted the untapped potential for trade integration between Europe and the southern Mediterranean (€103 bn!), and between southern Mediterranean countries (€18 bn). She then pointed out the challenges that are holding back this potential, but also present opportunities to be seized:

• the resurgence of protectionism, despite the fact that the Mediterranean is at the crossroads of several continental free-trade zones
• the gap in median age (44 in Europe vs. 18 in Africa), which is creating a migratory tidal wave to the north, with political and social consequences, even though skilled labor in Africa is a source of competitiveness for Europe.
• The climate crisis, for which the Mediterranean is on the front line, is at the same time opening up a whole new field of needs, calling for new professions, sectors and companies.

Regionalization of Value Chains: Insights from Mediterranean Countries and Cross-Border Investments

The first panel provided an overview of the current situation in the various Mediterranean countries with regard to the regionalization of value chains. Ms. Radwa Kamouna (Egypt, GAFI), Ms. Assia Ben Saad (Morocco, AMDIE), Mr. Hammadi Abderrezak (Algeria, AAPI) and Mr. Christophe Perez (France, Provence Promotion) presented sectoral trends and the nature of recent investment projects in their countries. This confirmed the dynamism of sectors related to environmental transition, and the export positioning of many projects recently set up in North Africa to target the European market, and vice versa.

Strengthening Regional Supply Chains: Joint Promotion Strategies and Euro-Mediterranean Integration

The second panel dealt with the implementation of joint promotion and marketing strategies between countries to strengthen these regional supply chains. It brought together Vasso Kyrkou (Enterprise Greece), Atef Jamoussi (Tunisia Investment Authority), Nathalie Farrugia (Malta Enterprise) and Lionel Flasseur (One Provence, France). It highlighted the importance of image perception in investment decisions (30%). Under these conditions, the need to capitalize on positive perceptions of the region (quality of life, climate, etc.) to create a global image that transcends countries appeared important. At the same time, we need to work hard to promote the excellence of companies in each of the countries in the Euromed zone, so that complementarities can be established. Speakers also called on European institutions to better integrate SMEs into the Global Gateway strategy, so that these schemes contribute to the integration and emergence of Euro-Mediterranean industrial offerings.

Day 2: Public Engagement at SOFT Conference

On the second day, the ANIMA conference continued as part of SOFT, a major event organized by Rising Sud to promote corporate environmental and social transitions. On the one hand, this participation was an opportunity to highlight the positive impact on the environment of greater integration of value chains in a regional Mediterranean area, and on the other, to raise awareness among participating French companies of the competitiveness and quality of the South Mediterranean industrial offer.

In her introduction, Ms Mbarka Bouaida, President of the Guelmin Oued Noun Region, highlighted the strong commitment of Morocco and its region to environmental transition, while Mr Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former French Prime Minister and President of the Fondation Prospective Innovation, traditionally a strong promoter of relations with China, stressed the need to redeploy local and regional value chains with North African neighbors.

Mrs. Sonia Fernandez (Amec, Spain), Mrs. Fatima Zahra El Khalifa (Cluster ENR, Morocco), Mrs. Meryem Rachdi (Moroccan Denim and fashion cluster) and Mr. Hichem El Merini (Africalink, France), showed the complementarities that exist between countries, and the respective interests, while regretting that Europeans are still timid in their engagement with North Africa, and prioritize more distant destinations. Clusters are networks that help to facilitate partnerships, as they represent the countries’ highest value-added industries.

Hervé Martel, President of the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille, emphasized the transformative impact of the energy transition on Mediterranean trade routes, envisioning a future driven by hydrogen and electricity.

Olivier Darrasson, President of the Club des Investisseurs de Méditerranée du Futur, explained how value can be shared in cross-border projects in the fields of renewable energies, water management and digital innovation, including the Carbone solar panel production initiative.

French government representatives Julien Chenivesse and Frédéric Cholé underlined the strategic importance of the Mediterranean within the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean, and presented tools such as the Maghreb Fund managed by Bpifrance to support French companies in the region.

In conclusion, Tarak Cherif, President of ANIMA, urged French companies to reverse the decline in European investment in industry in Africa, while he noted new projects every day by Chinese players in the location of manufacturing facilities. He also called on French government representatives to encourage this European commitment.

Acknowledgements

The ANIMA network and Euromed Clusters Forward would like to express their gratitude to all participants, speakers and partners, in particular the European Commission (DG NEAR represented by Irene Salvoni), Métropole Aix Marseille Provence, Rising Sud and Conseil Régional Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. Their collaboration made it possible to organize a prestigious and impactful event, advancing the dialogue on regional value chains in the Mediterranean.