Mr. Miltiadis Makrygiannis, PABSEC Deputy Secretary General participated in the UfM Trade and Investment Forum that took place on 4 November 2022 in Istanbul.

The event was co-organized by the Union for Mediterranean (UfM) and the German Development Cooperation, under the auspices of The Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye and in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The UfM Trade and Investment Forum 2022 is the Forum’s fourth edition in four successive years, attesting to the emphasis that the UfM places on trade facilitation and investment promotion as prerequisites of economic development and integration in the region.

This year’s edition brought together 150 participants comprising a broad spectrum of high-level speakers, partners and stakeholders from different sectors of the Euro-Mediterranean Region to discuss the current regional economic dynamics in a changing global context with a focus on three interrelated thematics, namely green transition, regional value chains and hedging against global disruptions.

The event comprised three panels: a. Making trade work for a green transition; b. Making regional value chains work for emerging economies; c. Making intraregional trade act as a cushion against global disruptions.

In his Welcoming Remarks, UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel stressed that the UfM Secretariat prioritizes trade facilitation and investment promotion on its agenda in a region that still punches way below its weight in terms of trade integration and investment attractiveness.

During his keynote, the Minister of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye, Dr. Mehmet Muş, called for strategies that would favour food and energy security, resilient value chains and sustainable agriculture.

The key recommendations emanating from the UfM Trade and Investment Forum will feed into the preparation work for the coming UfM Ministerial on Trade, which will be hosted by the Kingdom of Spain during the last quarter of 2023.