FEMISE Annual Conference on Inclusive Development in the South-Med Countries and the Role of the EU-Med Partnership

FromNov 23, 2012 To Nov 24, 2012

Marrakech, Morocco

The theme of the FEMISE Annual Conference was Inclusive Development in the South-Med Countries and the Role of the EU-Med Partnership. In fact, since 1995, when the Barcelona process began, the Southern Mediterranean countries have appeared to be on their way to catching up with emerging markets. Growing at approximately 5 percent per year, countries like Tunisia and Egypt were hailed by international financial institutions for being on the right track and for making notable progress. However, the uprisings of the last couple of years have shown that there was something wrong with the underlying model of development adopted in these countries. Apparently, there was too much focus on economic growth and too little on inclusion or fair distribution of the benefits. Widespread corruption was also evident.

In addition to the plenary sessions, the conference included three parallel session addressing the following topics: drivers of inclusive growth, the politics of inclusive growth and the role of the international community and the EU-Med partnership in supporting inclusive growth in the region. More than 130 participants attended, with representatives from FEMISE’s 94 members’ institutes, policy makers, representatives from the Commission and other interested parties in the EU-Med region.