MedaWeek Barcelona 2024 will bring together Mediterranean economic leaders
The Association of Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCAME) and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce have presented at a press conference the 18th edition of the Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders, MedaWeek Barcelona 2024, to be held on 29 and 30 October at the Llotja de Mar in Barcelona.
The aim of this new edition is to explore new avenues of cooperation and dialogue between companies in the region in order to seek joint solutions to the new challenges arising from the current geopolitical context.
Despite the challenge of organising an international event such as this in the face of the new multi-crisis environment, this annual Mediterranean private sector event will be held once again with the participation of more than 40 institutions and organisations from both the Mediterranean region and internationally, thousands of CEOs and entrepreneurs and professionals from more than 45 countries. Thus, businessmen and top institutional representatives of the region will share the actions carried out in their countries to face current challenges such as climate change, sustainable and responsible tourism, the new economy or the consequences of the crisis in the Middle East.
Under the slogan ‘The sea that unites the three continents’, MedaWeek Barcelona 2024 will not only be a space for debate and analysis, but also a platform to create new business and investment opportunities, partnerships and strategic alliances between companies and between the public and private sectors, and to promote the exchange of knowledge and innovation.
Organised by ASCAME and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, with the collaboration of Union for the Mediterranean, European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona, Diputació de Barcelona and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, the event will feature a dozen sessions on emerging sectors that are transforming the Mediterranean: tech & new economy, food industry, tourism, creative & audiovisual, sports, and green & blue economy (including renewable energies).
All these sectors are of great importance for the region due to their economic and social impact. For example, with an emphasis on tourism (the Mediterranean attracts approximately 20% of the world's tourism), by 2024 the GDP of tourism in the Mediterranean region is expected to exceed 200 billion euros. In terms of sustainability, the impact of climate change on the Mediterranean region causes losses of 5-15% of its GDP per year, which requires greater cooperation from the region's private sector to design viable and effective solutions to the current challenges.
One of the novelties of this edition will be the presentation of the Mediterranean Annual Economic Report, an economic report prepared by IEMed on the private sector in the Mediterranean that provides a current snapshot of the region's companies and an analysis of the main trends and prospects. There will also be B2B meetings to promote business agreements and two sessions to explore current business opportunities in North Africa - a new edition of the ‘New Africa Business Development Forum’ - and in Canada from the point of view of AI and IoT - in the ‘Doing Business Mediterranean-Canada Business Forum’.
During the press conference to present the event, Josep Santacreu, President of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, and Anwar Zibaoui, General Coordinator of ASCAME, agreed that the celebration of MedaWeek 2024 is more necessary than ever because it is a unique opportunity for all Mediterranean companies to build a common future and move towards peace and stability in the region in a context of uncertainty and tension.
Josep Santacreu made the following reflection: ‘The Mediterranean and the EU need a different relationship at all levels. Both parties must write a new chapter in their history with a new roadmap that responds to the new economic, geopolitical, security and climate change-related challenges. It is essential to know what the Mediterranean wants from Europe and what Europe is looking for in the Mediterranean. This new dialogue must not only be a relationship between donors and beneficiaries, but a relationship between equals.
For his part, Anwar Zibaoui stressed the challenge of organising this edition and bringing together the entire private sector and institutions of the Mediterranean: ‘We do not want to be on the side of those who only associate the Mediterranean with crises, emigration and wars, but neither do we want to ignore the current situation. We cannot change the past, but we can build a new history in which there are no borders and no prejudices. To do this, we need the active involvement of Mediterranean companies to guarantee the stability and prosperity of our populations’.
Both institutional representatives highlighted the consolidation of MedaWeek as the main platform that gives a voice to the entire Mediterranean private sector and the opportunity that Barcelona has to be a Mediterranean hub and a nexus of the three continents - Africa, Europe and Asia - to improve the region's competitiveness and guarantee stability through cooperation and dialogue.