A 5+5 Finance Dialogue meeting was held yesterday in Malta, on the fringes of the Informal Finance Ministers of the European Union Meeting taking place during the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union. This follows the first 5+5 Finance Dialogue meeting held in Paris on 24 January 2017 which marked the start of a closer relationship between Finance Ministers of the countries from the North of the Western Mediterranean (France, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain) and those of the Arab Maghreb Union (Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia). The meeting was chaired by the Minister for Finance and the current President of the Economic and Financial Council of the EU, Professor Edward Scicluna, under the co-presidency of Minister Michel Sapin, Minister for Economy and Finance of France and Minister Hadji Babaammi, Minister of Finance of Algeria. The discussion focused on the promotion of private investment in the region.
Over these last few years, the Mediterranean region has undergone a major political and economic upheaval. Against this background, the 5+5 Finance Dialogue Ministers discussed ways to reignite the region’s economies by creating the right environment for the private sector to flourish and investment to pick up. The Ministers highlighted the importance of political stability, good governance, legal security, infrastructure as well as access to finance and the markets. Mr. Uri Dadush, a Senior Fellow at the OCP Policy Center in Morocco delivered a presentation for discussion.
PRESS RELEASE BY THE MINISTRY FOR FINANCE
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) were also invited to discuss how the international development banks can provide financial and technical assistance to the private sector in the region. The Ministers highlighted the importance of coordination among international institutions to maximize the impact of their support. They also explored ways how to enhance future collaboration between the countries of the region in the sphere of economy and finance.
– Saturday, 8th April, 2017