Press Release Contacts: In Marseille/Paris Valérie Chevalier vchevalier@worldbank.org + 33 1 40 69 30 48 In Washington DC Najat Yamouri nyamouri@worldbank.org + 1 202 458 1340
The Marseille Center for Mediterranean Integration is launched today
Marseille, October 9, 2009 – The World Bank launches, together with the European Investment Bank, the Governments of Egypt, France, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia, and the City of Marseille, the Marseille Center for Mediterranean Integration (MCMI). The Center will facilitate access to best knowledge and practices and improve cooperation to support development policies geared towards greater integration and convergence in the Mediterranean Region.
Development challenges in the Mediterranean region are increasingly complex and have to deal with interdependence in many areas. The Center will offer a platform for public and independent institutions from the region to discuss these challenges learn from each other and strengthen local, national and regional capacities to manage interdependence.
“MCMI is an integral part of World Bank and European partnership to promote regional integration through knowledge sharing, innovation and harmonization of standards, regulation and laying ground work for regional development project. “More than ever national development strategies need to take interdependence into account. Mediterranean countries need to make informed policy choices to realize the potential of interdependence. Our partner countries are therefore keen to learn from each other’s experiences, successes and development challenges. We are striving to ensure this partnership results in concrete deliverable for the benefit of the region to reduce unemployment and poverty.” says Shamshad Akhtar, World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa region.
The MCMI areas of engagement include five clusters with 14 programs focusing on: (i) urban and spatial development; (ii) sustainable development; (iii) transport and logistics; (iv) skills, employment and labor mobility challenges including youth and; (v) knowledge economy, innovation and technology.
“In the Mediterranean Basin which is one of the most populated arid region, we need to look together for the means to preserve the common space and public goods we are sharing in order to ensure sustainability for the population of the region. This is indeed what the MCMI aims at, and