Launched in 2021, the Agenda for the Mediterranean proposed to strengthen Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and unleash the region’s untapped potential. In particular, the Agenda focuses on green and digital transition, creation of inclusive societies, respect of human rights and the rule of law in the Middle East and North Africa region.
In this context, the European Commission developed an Economic and Investment Plan for its Southern Neighbourhood, through which it implements the Global Gateway in the region. Devised jointly with partner countries and articulated around flagship actions, the Plan aims to increase the region’s attractiveness for investors, and they include concrete flagship initiatives in different priority sectors.
The Global Gateway is also implemented in Iraq.
The Economic and Investment Plan for the Southern Neighbourhood implements projects in five sectors:
- Human development, good governance and the rule of law
- Resilience, prosperity and the digital transition
- Peace and security
- Migration and mobility
- Green transition: climate resilience, energy and environment
For the period 2021-2027, the European Commission mobilised up to €7 billion under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Coordination Instrument (NDICI) with the aim of mobilising private and public investments of up to €30 billion. As of November 2024, the expected mobilised investment under the Economic and Investment Plan for the Southern Neighbourhood reached €26.7 billion, which is 89% of the target set for 2027.
Financing the projects
EU support under the Economic and Investment Plan for the Southern Neighbourhood is leveraging public and private investments, by bringing together financial resources from the EU, international financial institutions such as the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) or a bilateral European Finance Institution, EU Member States and their development finance institutions, partner countries and the private sector. In blending operations, EU grant funding is combined (“blended”) with loans and equity investment from international financial institutions, to make priority projects viable. EU grants in blended finance operations are often used to lower the overall cost of the investment or to improve project planning or implementation.
The training on Euromed Trade Helpdesk was an eye-opener for me. I would use what I learned on identifying new trade opportunities to support women entrepreneurs within my organisation.
Al Ard Al Khadraa is an innovative leverage for the excellent agricultural and forestry training and research consortium in Morocco to innovate in the virtuous circle of training, research and entrepreneurship in order to prepare future generations for a paradigm shift to develop the green transition towards sustainable agriculture.
We realised that there is a strong demand for our export product but we had no idea of how to export. Our meeting with the experts of the PASA programme enabled us to set up in export. In this way, we have been able to follow the various steps to make our projects a reality and become an exporting company.
