The Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean and the European Commission jointly organized a high-level meeting on the role of the private sector in strengthening the Euro-Mediterranean partnership.

Pr. Jean-Louis Reiffers (President of the Scientific Committee of FEMISE and of Institut de la Méditerranée) addressed the participants in the second day of the meeting on the session related to how formalization of the economy allows to move towards a more inclusive growth model in the Mediterranean.

In his speech he stressed that for a long time incentives to remain in the informal sector were high, given the conditions of the administrative and legal environment.

He expressed the need to review the current system, without however separating the needs of entreprises with those of the society. Formalizing gradually seems more appropriate, encouraging young people to move towards private sector employment and develop key knowledge on entreprises in the vocational training system. The latter could be a real solution, enabling young people and at different stages / levels of training to acquire specific skills tailored to the needs of the private sector. Furthermore, sticking to major development plans and allowing for the articulation of entrepreneurship to public policy would allow for an important breakthrough.

To learn more about this meeting, please follow the link to the UfM website