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| SME Med Events |
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| 2006 |
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| 29-09-2006, Enhancing Business between SMEs within the Mediterranean Basin |
On Friday 29 September 2006 the SME Union Malta SIZM-PN International Euro-Mediterranean Conference took place in St. Juliens, Malta. Politicians and experts from various European and Mediterranean countries took part in the symposium and talked about enhancing business between SMEs within the Mediterranean Basin. On the eve of the conference Thursday night the newly planned SME UNION Working Group “SME Med” was presented to the international guests by Peter Abela, an SME Union Malta pioneer who will be the first President of this Mediterranean SME movement. Newly introduced into the SME UNION family was Geoffroy Vilbert, in charge of building up the relations in France for SME Med. John Bonnello, International Secretary of the Maltese EPP Party PN represented the government party at this inauguration dinner.
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On Friday morning, before the conference started, the participants were given the chance to get an insight and visit three Maltese SMEs. The international guests, led by the SIZM-PN International Secretary Mary Helen Strout and accompanied by the French Commercial Counselor to Malta, Michel Hermitte visited a Bavarian IT-company, Halmann International, a specialist in marble, granite, terrazzo, resin & hard stone and S&R Handaq, manufacturers of industrial finishes lead by the SME Union Malta activist Gregory Brincat. During lunch time, the participants had the special pleasure and honor to meet Lawrence Gonzi, the Prime Ministers of Malta, in his office, to discuss Mediterranean and EU SME issues. SME Union Malta SIZM-PN President Alex Vassallo gave a short overview of the activities of the Maltese SME Union. Prime Minister Gonzi, who was a key and personal supporter of the SME Union Malta from the beginning in 1996, welcomed his friends and supporters in a very collegial way. Gonzi stressed that especially for Malta, as the bridge between Europe and the African continent, trade and SME issues are of very importance. He announced full support from his government for the Working Group SME Med and pointing out that Malta, whose commercial structure is dominated by micro enterprises, can grow only through more export, better technology and by reducing government induced costs, also called “red tape”. His government is currently especially focusing on the needs of SMEs.
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After this meeting the participants discussed SME topics in small workshops with specific focus on IT, tourism, manufacturing and construction, which gave the ideal basis for the discussion in the plenary conference in the afternoon. Leonard Mizzi, head of the Malta Business Bureau in Brussels held the first speech at the beginning of the conference and emphasized the importance of SME supporting programmes in the European and Mediterranean cooperation. MP Jean Michel Ferrand, Vice-President of the SME UNION, agreed with him and focused on the European and French view to this topic. Alessandra Bianchi, Vice-President of SME Union Italy, underlined the importance of enhancing business in this region through stronger bilateral trade and harbor cooperation. Hédi Frikha, General Director of the Tunisian National Agency of Industrial Promotion in charge of SMEs gave an outstanding overview of cooperation possibilities with this emerging North African country. Other speakers have been Marian Petre Milut, President of the National Union of Romanian Employers, Maltese Member of the European Parliament and SME Circle Member Simon Busuttil and Censu Galea, Maltese Minister for Competition and Communication who closed the conference. |
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