The Second operational meeting of the PAM Panel on External Trade and Investments in

the Mediterranean, a joint initiative by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean

(PAM) and the United Nations Trade and Productive Capacity Cluster, was organized in Geneva

on 4-5 May, 2011, by UNECE in cooperation with UNCTAD and PAM.

The Conference was attended by over 100 delegates from 48 national, regional and international

delegations, bringing together parliamentarians, government officials, investment agencies,

financial institutions, as well as academics and representatives from the private sector to set out

practical measures to be taken to re-launch the economy of the Mediterranean region, which is

considered as essential to achieving peace, stability and security throughout the region.

Within the framework of the main topics on Trade and Transport Facilitation and

Development of Productive Capacity, the Conference featured a mix of keynote speeches

tackling the economic causes and impact of recent political volatility in the region, challenges to

regional integration, and the role of financial institutions, infrastructures, water and energy in

supporting trade expansion and sustained development.

Among the key challenges to the region, the conference noted the destabilising impact of rising

food and energy prices, associated to a slow recovery from the global financial and economic

crisis. These challenges have been further exacerbated by high budget deficits, low foreign

investment, and high youth unemployment, particularly in the south Mediterranean.

The discussions allowed for the exchange of views and the consolidation of a number of

recommendations by sector, which all pointed to the necessity of rooting development efforts in

a strategic „Master Plan‟ to redress poverty, generate employment through growth and

investment in the region, and enhance competitiveness through trade facilitation.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean was also singled out for the coordinating role

it can play in the region in fostering, also through the promotion of trade and investments in the

Mediterranean, the necessary momentum to the changes taking place in some of its member

states, but also in facilitating the economic recovery of all the countries on both the Northern and

Southern shores of the basin.