The Union for the Mediterranean and representatives of Arab states and financial institutions met in Barcelona recently to discuss mutually beneficial cooperation. It is very interesting to see what alliances like this one will turn in to.
Creating Synergies: UfM and Arab Financial Institutions Seek to Strengthen Cooperation
The Secretariat of the Union for the
Mediterranean (UfM) held a meeting yesterday with Arab Financial
Institutions and Development Agencies at its premises in Barcelona.
The meeting, entitled “Creating Synergies: the power of working
together”, and also attended by representatives of the Arab League
and Arab embassies in Madrid, aimed at strengthening the relationship
between partners of the region to develop further regional activities
and projects under topics of common interests as well as to identify
future concrete actions.
During the meeting, Miguel Ángel
Moratinos, Former Spanish Foreign Minister, called for the
development of a new partnership between the Union for the
Mediterranean and the Gulf countries: “This partnership should be
based on the development of a political strategic dialogue followed
by a concrete action plan between the UfM and the Gulf countries in
the framework of a ministerial meeting. Also, it is very important to
call for the creation of a specific financial institution to address
the priorities of the region.”
The Director of the Regional office for
the Maghreb countries at the Islamic Development Bank Group,
Abderrahman El Glaoui, talked about the new perspectives of
cooperation with the UfM Secretariat, highlighting the contribution
of the Islamic Development Bank to the project of the Desalination
Facility for the Gaza Strip. He stated that: “Many of the
strategies and interventions of the Islamic Development Bank are in
harmony with the objectives and concerns of the Union for the
Mediterranean. We need to find ways and means to stimulate
cooperation and create synergies between the UfM and our
institutions, for the benefit of our common Mediterranean region.”
UfM Secretary General Sijilmassi said:
“I hope we could start today to develop over time strong
partnership and strengthen bridges between Europe, Southern
Mediterranean and the Gulf region. What we need today in our region
is the creation of synergies between all actors in the Mediterranean
in order to strengthen the regional dimension of our cooperation
through the development of concrete projects.”
At the end of the meeting, the
participants agreed to continue the dialogue by convening a second
meeting in the Gulf region in the autumn of 2013.
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