Are South Med Countries Converging?

The FEMISE annual conference this year will address the question of Convergence of the South Med Countries.  In two plenary session and 8 parallel sessions, this issue will be addressed, questioned and some useful recommendations could be drawn to what these countries should do to ensure that they are on the right track for this convergence.

Concept of the Conference theme

Convergence is a fairly broad term which encompasses both notions of economic growth (and hence convergence in income levels) and more broadly convergence with respect to a wider set of socio-economic issues such as poverty, literacy, education, and of course distribution. It is true that some of the social indicators of the South Med countries are improving; does this mean that the South Med countries are converging?

Convergence related to the Euro-Med region tends to focus implicitly on the means for this convergence with respect to the functioning of markets and institutions between the countries of the EU and the countries of the Southern Mediterranean. Existing research has tended, similarly, to focus more on convergence of instruments (eg. regulatory reform) as opposed to focussing on convergence of outcomes, such as growth in per capita income, equality, quality of life, etc. The presumption appears to have been that convergence on instruments will achieve convergence on outcomes, with the accession countries providing a good example of this process. A much clearer understanding of the transmission mechanisms from instruments and outcomes is not that well identified.

FEMISE plenary sessions will address the issue of convergence of the South Med countries towards Europe and highlight the barriers/impediments to this convergence in two sessions: Convergence of the South Mediterranean Partners Countries and Impediments to Convergence in the South Med Countries

The Parallel sessions will include presentations of FEMISE funded projects, which will address the issue of convergence in a more details approach; The role of Firms, the business environment, growth, liberalization of capital accounts, finance and banking, migration and remittances, social cohesion and Poverty and Inequality.

AGENDA

14-15 November 2009

The Métropole Hotel

Brussels, Belgium

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DAY ONE: Saturday 14 November 2009
08:30-09:00	Welcome and Registration of participants

09:00-09:30

Opening Remarks and Welcome Note by the Coordinators

Ahmed Galal, President of FEMISE and ERF Managing Director

Jean-Louis Reiffers, President of the Scientific Committee of FEMISE and IM09:30-11:00Plenary Session 1

Convergence of the South Mediterranean Partners Countries

 

Moderator: Ahmed Galal, President of FEMISE and ERF Managing Director

 Keynote Speakers:

Jean-Philippe Platteau, CRED and FSESG

Ambassador Senén Florensa, Director IEMED and Former Spanish Ambassador to Tunisia

 

11:00-11:30Coffee Break11:30-13:00 Parallel Sessions (1) 11:30-13:0011:30-13:15 Parallel Session (1A): Regional Integration, Firms and ConvergenceParallel Session (1B): Migrants’ Remittances and their impact on South Med countries Moderator and Discussant: Mongi Boughzala, University Tunis El-Manar, TunisiaModerator and Discussant: Jackline Wahba, University of Southampton, UK Regional Integration, firms’ location and convergence: the experience of the Euro-Mediterranean area

Nicolas Peridy, Université du Sud, Toulon-Var, France

Système financier, politique de change et transferts de fonds des migrants marocains: Quelles interactions?

Jamal Bouoiyour, Al Akhawayne University – Ifrane, Morocco and University of Pau, France

 Deep Integration, Firms and Economic Convergence

Patricia Augier, DEFI, DEFI, Université de la Méditerranée, France

Determinants and Consequences of Migration and Remittances: The Case of Palestine and Tunisia

Mahmoud El Jafari, Faculty of Business and Economics, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine and Mongi Bougzala, University of Tunis El-Manar, Tunisia

Impact des transferts de fonds des migrants sur la pauvreté et les inégalités : une comparaison Maroc-Algérie

EM Mouhoud, CEPN, France, presented by: Jamal Bouoiyour, University of Pau, France

13:00-14:30	Lunch
14:30-16:00	Parallel Sessions (2)
	Parallel Session (2A): Business Environment and its impact on firms productivity in the context of convergence	Parallel Session (2B): Convergence of the Financial Systems and Institutions
	Moderator and Discussant: Maria-Inmaculada Montero-Luque, DG-trade, European Commission	Moderator and Discussant: Samy Mouley, Université de Tunis
	Clustering, international networks and performance of firms: some complement approaches for MENA’s convergenceJuliette Milgram, University of Granada, Spain	Convergence of Banking Sector Regulations and its Impact on Bank Performances and Growth: the case for Algeria, Morocco, and TunisiaRym Ayadi, CEPS, Belgium
	Le climat des affaires et les performances productives comparées : Analyse sur données microéconomiques manufacturières (Algérie, Egypte, Maroc)Patrick Plane, CERDI, France	Financial Systems in Mediterranean Partners and the EURO-Mediterranean PartnershipSimon Neaime, American University of Beirut and Nidal Sabri, Beirzeit University, Palestine
16:00-16:15	Coffee Break
16:15-17:00	Parallel Sessions (3)
	Parallel Session (3A): Growth and Convergence in the MENA region	Parallel Session (3B): Social Cohesion Policies and Convergence in the MENA region
	Moderator and Discussant: Raed Safadi, OECD	Moderator and Discussant: Hana’ Kheireldin, ECES, Egypt
	International openness and social development as endogenous determinants of growth and convergence of the countries in the MENA regionJan Michalek, Warsaw University, Poland  and Alfred Tovias, The Hebrew University, Israel	Social cohesion policies in Mediterranean countries: an assessment of instruments and outcomes in Italy and Morocco

Marco Zupi and Elisenda Estruch-Puertas, CeSPI, Italy

17:00-17:45Special Session Presentation of the TradeSift Software: A toolkit for policy makers and trade analysts

Michael Gasiorek, Sussex University, United Kingdom

DAY TWO: Sunday 15 November 2009
09:00-11:00	Plenary Session II Impediments to Convergence in the South Med Countries Moderator: Jean-Louis Reiffers, President of the Scientific Committee, IM and  FEMISE
	Keynote Speakers: Mats Karlsson, Director in the World Bank’s MNA region and Responsible for the Marseille Centre For Mediterranean Integration (MCMI)Pierre Deusy, Responsible of economic issues of the Euromed Partnership, DG Relex Amb. Hassan Abouyoub, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco in Rome, Italy (tbc)
11:00-11:30	Coffee Break
11:30-13:00	Parallel Session (4)
	Parallel Session (4A): Capital Account liberalization and convertibility	Parallel Session (4B) :  Poverty and Income Inequality
	Moderator and Discussant: Sergio Alessandrini, University of Modena, Italy	Moderator and Discussant: Gonzalo Escribano, AGREEM, Spain
	Libéralisation du compte de capital et convertibilité intégrale : cadre de gestion macroéconomique en Tunisie et expériences comparées de pays émergentsPhilippe Gilles, Université du Sud, Toulon-Var and  Sami Mouley, University of Tunis, Tunisia	Income Inequality and Poverty after Trade Liberalization in MENA CountriesRoby Nathanson, The Macro Center For Political Economics, Israel and Khalid Sekkat, Free University of Brussels, Belgium
	Does capital account liberalization spur private capital flows, financial development and economic performanceMondher Cherif, ESC SFAX, Tunisia	Global food price shock and the poor in Egypt and Ukraine – a comparison of policy regimes and reform optionsMaryla Maliszewska, CASE, Warsaw, Poland
13:00-14:30	Lunch
14:30-16:00	Plenary Session III The Crisis and its effect on the EU-Med Convergence Moderator: Jean-Louis Reiffers, President of the Scientific Committee, IM and  FEMISE
	Speakers: Special Event: Launch of the FEMISE EU-Med report on “The Mediterranean Partner Countries facing the Crisis”Jean-Louis Reiffers, President of the Scientific Committee, IM and  FEMISE Marga Peeters, DG Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
16:00-16:15	Coffee Break
16:15-18:00	Closing Remarks and General Assembly Meeting of the Network Members Moderator: Ahmed Galal,  President of FEMISE and ERF Managing Director
	Speakers: Jean-Louis Ville, Chief of Unit, Aidco, European CommissionAhmed Galal, President of FEMISE and ERF Managing DirectorJean-Louis Reiffers, President of Scientific Committee, FEMISE Frederic Blanc, General Manager, FEMISE