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Malta Business Review<br />

EURO-MEDITERRANEAN REGION<br />

EMPOWERING YOUTH AND WOMEN’S<br />

ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE<br />

EURO-MEDITERRANEAN REGION<br />

Libyan fashion company wins Young Local<br />

Entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean<br />

A Libyan fashion and textile company was<br />

awarded the Young Local Entrepreneurship<br />

in the Mediterranean Award 2019 on 26<br />

February. The award was handed over at the<br />

plenary session of the Euro-Mediterranean<br />

Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) held<br />

in the Spanish city of Seville, where 100 local<br />

and regional leaders gathered to discuss<br />

how to foster youth entrepreneurship,<br />

empower women, improve governance,<br />

strengthen city-to-city cooperation and<br />

manage migration.<br />

The award was given to Zimni Jdeed, a<br />

fashion and textile company based in Tripoli<br />

that is re-fashioning traditional clothing<br />

with great success. The young entrepreneur<br />

Najway Altahir Mohammed Shukri and<br />

her brother Ali launched the company<br />

three years ago. They now employ six<br />

seamstresses, offering a decent working<br />

environment for women. The first edition of<br />

the ARLEM award received 24 applications<br />

from nine countries.<br />

Praising the winner, Karl-Heinz Lambertz,<br />

President of the European Committee<br />

of the Regions, said: “There is a desire<br />

throughout the Mediterranean to enhance<br />

cooperation and unlock the enormous<br />

potential of the region. By empowering all<br />

young people regardless of gender, we can<br />

stir entrepreneurship and create new jobs.<br />

Through decentralised cooperation we<br />

are deepening integration of the region,<br />

overcoming challenges that transcend<br />

borders, such as migration and social<br />

exclusion, and delivering sustainable<br />

development."<br />

Lahcen Amrouch, Mayor of Argana in<br />

Morocco and representative of ARLEM’s<br />

co-President Mohammed Boudra at the<br />

meeting, stressed: “Youth entrepreneurship<br />

is a priority for ARLEM. That is why we have<br />

launched the ARLEM Award to promote<br />

young entrepreneurship and give visibility<br />

to those that are not discouraged by the<br />

difficulties of starting a new business.<br />

We urge national governments to<br />

simplify business legislation, reduce the<br />

administrative and tax burden, and create<br />

business incubators and micro-credit<br />

schemes to boost young entrepreneurship.”<br />

Nasser Kamel, Secretary General of the<br />

Union for the Mediterranean, said: “The<br />

work of the Euro-Mediterranean Local<br />

and Regional Assembly is extraordinarily<br />

important. The Assembly represents the<br />

people of the Euro-Mediterranean region,<br />

more than 800 million citizens who need<br />

our engagement and commitment to the<br />

promotion of dialogue and cooperation. As<br />

the territorial dimension of the Union for<br />

the Mediterranean, ARLEM must contribute<br />

to defining the priorities and enhancing<br />

the visibility of the work and activities we<br />

undertake, bringing the Euro-Mediterranean<br />

partnership closer to the interests and<br />

expectations of its citizens."<br />

The delegation of 100 participants from<br />

19 countries members visited La Cartuja<br />

in Seville, the 1992 Universal Exposition<br />

site now reconverted into a business park<br />

and incubator centre that gathers 450<br />

companies and 17,000 employees. The<br />

Mayor of Seville, Juan Espadas (ES/PES),<br />

said: “The city council has deployed new<br />

competencies to tackle unemployment,<br />

focusing on youth training and improving<br />

their employability. Seville has great human<br />

capital. Entrepreneurship is in our city’s<br />

DNA. That is why I am particularly gratified<br />

that the first ceremony of the ARLEM award<br />

to young entrepreneurs is taking place in<br />

our city.”<br />

During the ARLEM meeting, a report<br />

on ‘Youth entrepreneurship in the<br />

Mediterranean’ was adopted that calls<br />

for the strengthening of programmes<br />

that support youth entrepreneurship,<br />

such as MedUP!, Med4jobs and Next<br />

Society, in order to promote economic<br />

development on the southern shores of<br />

the Mediterranean. The EU, the report<br />

says, should initiate schemes to give young<br />

entrepreneurs from North Africa and the<br />

Middle East the opportunity to receive<br />

training from experienced entrepreneurs in<br />

one of the 28 EU Member States.<br />

Rapporteur Olgierd Geblewicz (PL/EPP),<br />

President of Westpomerania Region,<br />

said: “We need to facilitate young<br />

entrepreneurship to revitalise local<br />

communities, create new jobs, boost<br />

economic growth and improve social<br />

welfare. We call on the EU, the UN and<br />

national governments across the Euro-<br />

Mediterranean region to create vocational<br />

programmes and develop micro-credit<br />

schemes for young entrepreneurs. Local<br />

and regional authorities should be fully<br />

involved in market labour and employment<br />

policies as they are best placed to<br />

implement programmes that fit the needs<br />

of their communities.”<br />

A report on ‘Governance and transparency<br />

in the Mediterranean’, led by Lütfü<br />

Savas, Mayor of Hatay in Turkey, was also<br />

adopted. It calls for greater decentralisation<br />

in the region, as a way to address the<br />

current distrust of public authorities. By<br />

empowering local governments, citizens can<br />

more actively participate in decision-making.<br />

The ARLEM defends higher budgets for local<br />

governments and tax collection capacities to<br />

invest in new projects in priority areas.<br />

Co-organised by the Conference of<br />

Peripheral and Maritime Regions (CPMR)<br />

and the Association of European Border<br />

Regions (AEBR), a workshop on migration<br />

was also held focusing on the role of local<br />

and regional authorities in receiving and<br />

integrating migrants.<br />

Discussions on the Nicosia initiative, a<br />

decentralised cooperation programme<br />

between EU and Libyan Mayors, also<br />

took place held. Following the successful<br />

exchange programmes in sustainable fishing<br />

with the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia and<br />

water management with Murcia, the ARLEM<br />

aims to extend the Nicosia initiative with<br />

more funds and exchange programmes, and<br />

has welcomed new partners such as the<br />

Galicia regional government. <strong>MBR</strong><br />

Credit: David Crous<br />

48

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