“The celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome will be a very important occasion, we are working to give the Union a revival signal at a time that many call as “difficulties”. We are not blind, there are signs of division but we see also the potential. Just in a difficult world like this we think that the European project can be revived”. This was stated by the Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, at a meeting on Thursday with Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, at Palazzo Chigi. “The basic idea will be to draw, for the next 10 years, a stronger and more cohesive Europe on security, defense – continued Gentiloni -, and more united on migration issues and engaged on growth and investment”.

For the prime minister, “Italy is in a phase of growth and recovery in terms of jobs, but we also know that this growth is limited and gradual, and it needs to be accompanied. We think of a Europe that is the frame to accompany this growth and these new jobs”. Gentiloni also spoke about immigration, and explained: “We have achieved some results together, I recall the excellent results of the informal Council meeting chaired by Joseph in Malta about a month ago, in which the EU has expressed its full support to the agreement between Italy and Libya. We will invest on this even in the coming days, further strengthening the capacities of the Libyan coast guard. No one should expect miracles to happen within a few weeks, because it would be an illusion”.

“Miracles cannot be done, but we are working for all the rest. In the last two months we have reached agreements on immigration that were unexpected compared to a few weeks before. This is the result of a good synergy between our countries,” Muscat explained. “The agreement with Libya is not perfect, even for the situation of the government of that country, but it is the most important point that Europe reached in terms of control of the migratory routes of the Central Mediterranean”.

On EU policies, the Prime Minister of Malta, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said: “Europe cannot be just an economic project, but it must also have a social function, which we lost on the way. We need a coordinated policy at the social level, in order to show to the citizens that Europe is not just a matter of budgets but also a matter of wellbeing. Social Europe has been forgotten for too many years, and the citizens have felt alienated from European “project.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

The Tunisian government is working to reduce the trade deficit, which in 2016 amounted to around 5.1 billion euro. This was stated by Minister of Finance, Lamia Zribi, in an interview. “The members of the government are currently working to find a solution to this problem. We import too many unnecessary products, but we must not forget that we have trade agreements with several countries” Zribi said.

Tunisia finished the year 2016 with a trade deficit of over 250 million euro less than in 2015 and about 500 million euro more than in 2014. Exports amounted to 11.8 billion euro, an increase of 5.6% compared to last year’s 11.2 billion euro. Imports also increased by 5.3 percentage points, from 16.1 billion euro in 2015 16.9 billion was EUR in the year that just ended.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

According to the Algerian Customs, the value of imports of passenger vehicles amounted to 1.292 billion dollars in 2016 compared to 2.038 billion dollars in 2015, representing a decrease of 36.61%. The value of imports of vehicles for the transport of persons and goods (classified as capital goods) was instead equal to 782.36 million dollars as compared with $ 1.5 billion in 2015, recording a 48% decrease. As for the parts and accessories for motor vehicles (classified in the category of non-food consumer goods, following the example of passenger vehicles), the value of imports reached 393.96 million US dollars compared to $ 394.86 million in 2015, with a slight decrease of 0.23%. It should be noted that, for the year 2016, the quota for the import of vehicles was set by the Algerian government to 98,374 units in the field of import licenses.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

“Research has no borders. The synergy between researchers from different institutions and countries is the key to tackle the most relevant themes”, Massimo Inguscio, president of the National Research Council, said. “My presence in Malta fits into the groove of the visit made a few months ago with the then Minister of Education, Universitie and Research. The aim is to strengthen cooperation through research and innovation, including the euro-Mediterranean context”.

In line with national strategic priorities for research confirmed by the Minister of Education, Universitiy and Research, Valeria Fedeli, the CNR faces with increasing commitment the global challenges in key areas of science and technology, also by actively participating in the projects of European research. In this context, president Inguscio signed in Malta a scientific cooperation agreement with the University of Malta, the main Maltese academic and research institution.

The visit was also the occasion for an exchange of ideas on some major European projects that will reach important goals during the Maltese presidency of the EU Council. First, the large euro-Mediterranean research program PRIMA (Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean), which focuses on the issues of food systems and water resources that, after years of hard work, will be approved in May by Europe’s research ministers.

Secondly, discussion touched the Flagship in ‘Quantum Technologies’, a ten-year research program funded by the European Commission that will involve all Member States, with a total investment of one billion euro from 2018. The Italian National Research Council coordinates the Italian roadmap, composed of universities and research organizations. The Ministry of Education, University and Research, and the National Research Council fund the European preparatory project QuantERA. In a partnership that also involves the University of Malta and the National Institute of Metrology research, the construction of the undersea fiber quantum connection between Malta and Sicily is at an advanced stage. Finally, the ‘Bluemed’ project, an initiative with Italian leadership aimed at strengthening European co-ordination in the areas of research and ‘blue’ innovation in the Mediterranean. In this context, the agreement signed by the CNR with the University of Malta becomes crucial for the development of new and strategic joint projects.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

The Ministry of Economy in a press release said that energy efficiency projects of total value of 4.5 million will be implemented in 2017. Approximately 2.7 million euro will be destined to the schools within the project called “Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings” (EEPPB), while about 1.8 million Euros will be used for the rehabilitation of medical and hospital structures in the framework of the project “Energy Efficiency in Montenegro “(MEEP). The Project EEPPB is funded through credit funds that equal to 31.5 million euro loan from the German Development Bank KfW, while the project MEEP is funded through a credit of 11.5 million euro of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

The operator of the electricity distribution system in Albania (Osshe) plans to invest in 2017 more than 14 billion lek (about 104 million euro) in order to reduce losses in the network. Osshe said that the Albanian distribution system could be normalized by 2022 if it average € 100 million per year will be invested. Thanks to the extensive operation undertaken by the authorities against electricity theft, starting from 2014, the company’s losses fell significantly. For 2017 the company expects the rate of losses in the network to drop to 25 percent share of the total electricity fed into the system.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

In recent years, thanks to investments in the pharmaceutical sector and the free trade agreement with some countries, exports of pharmaceutical products has increased in Turkey, which usually is an importer. According to statistical data from TUIK, Turkish pharmaceutical exports increased by 25% in 5 years, reaching 827 million dollars. In the same period, however, import has increased by only 5.5%. The trade deficit equals to 57 million dollars. South Korea (millions of dollars over the period of 2012-2016), Switzerland (59.7 million dollars) and Iraq (48.6 million dollars) are the first countries importing pharmaceutical products from Turkey. 

The export of Abdi Ibrahim, one of the largest Turkish pharmaceutical companies, increased by 92% (from USD 78.3 million in 2015 to 150.4 million dollars in 2016). the company’s export target is 256 million dollars in 2017. Mainly parkinson, asthma, schizophrenia, iron deficiency and sore throat products are exported.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

The fifth edition of the Italian Business Forum (IBF) was held in Ljubljana, organized by the Italian-Slovenian Forum, the Italian Embassy in Ljubljana, the ICE Agency, and the Italian Cultural Institute in collaboration with the institute Jožef Stefan, a center of scientific research. The theme of the works, which were attended by over 120 representatives of the authorities, the business, the third sector, and civil society, was the social enterprise, analysed with different approaches by the speakers, who have shared, in a constructive atmosphere, their experience and skills, always keeping in mind the themes of entrepreneurship, innovation and competitiveness.

Jurij Giacomelli, President of the Italian-Slovenian Forum, and Jadran Lenarcic, Director of the Jozef Stefan Institute, the main technological center of Slovenia, stressed the strength of bilateral exchange, which can bring together government representatives and successful entrepreneurs from the two countries. In the institutional greetings, the Italian Ambassador Paolo Trichilo stressed the positive implications of exchange and collaboration for the development of a Social Company between Italy, one of the leading countries in Europe in the field, and Slovenia, and more generally, the importance of the social dimension in Europe.

The Forum offered a dense series of interventions that covered the entire span of social entrepreneurship, from governmental to academic and operational bodies. The Slovenian State Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister, Tadej Slapnik, and the Chief Technical Advisor of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Bruno Busacca, explained the guidelines of national policies on the third sector and the innovations put into field to accompany their development.

Professor Carlo Borzaga, President of the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises(EURICSE), and Mojca Žganec Metelko, Secretary General of the Slovenian Social Entrepreneurship Forum, explained the point of view of the research sector and that of the field experience, underlining the potential and prospects of innovation that a Company is able to blend, without losing its role as social actor that produces goods and services for those who can not afford them. Silvan Persolja, from Klet Brda, a winery of Gorizia that brings together the work of 400 families of wine growers, Stefania Marcone of Legacoop, and Marco Ratti of Banca Prossima exposed their best practices and success stories in terms of the positive impact they have, both for the territory and in terms of business.

Barbara Predan, Director of the Institute of Design at the University of Ljubljana (ALOU) indicated the innovation contribution created by cooperation networks. Finally, in the closing panel moderated by the Director of ICE Ljubljana, Elisa Scelsa, and by the CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo Bank, Giancarlo Miranda, entrepreneurial and financial aspects were examined, through the excellent interventions by Aquafil, Poligon Creative Centre, Unicredit Bank Slovenia, leading companies who daily combine entrepreneurship with the most important issues for social enterprise.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

The World Bank Group has allocated $200 million for upgrading the road network of Lebanon. 

The funds will be used to repair around 500 kilometers of roads in a first phase of a $510 million government plan to revamp the country’s road sector.

The funds include a $45 million grant from the Bank-administered Concessional Financing Facility (CFF), which is a facility created in 2016 to support middle-income countries that were recipients of regular Bank financing, but are currently experiencing unusual social and economic duress.

The $155 million will be provided as a loan repayable over 32 years, including a seven-year grace period. The World Bank will also help the government mobilize other international development partners to provide additional funding.

The first phase of the plan aims at rehabilitating the existing road networks, improving the road safety systems, and purchasing equipment for emergency road works. It also aims to improve management and efficiency in the sector. 

The project will include a survey of up to 6,000 kilometers of primary, secondary, and tertiary roads in all regions to identify those in most need for rehabilitation.

The project aims to help the country continue to offer basic services both to its citizens and to Syrian refugees in the country. 

The Syrian refugee presence has put pressure on the infrastructure, and increased the workforce by 35 percent. The road repair works would help provide more low-skilled jobs.

With this new package, the World Bank’s current commitment to Lebanon in grants, loans, and other concessional financing rises to $1.3 billion.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

“The centrality of the Mediterranean region is important both for Italy and for Tunisia. This central position strengthens the ties between our two countries”. This was said by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, after the meeting with the president of the Tunisian Republic, Beji Caid Essebsi, at the Quirinale. The meeting of Wednesday 8 February is the second between the two heads of State: the first one was in Tunisia on 18 May  2015, when President Mattarella visited the country in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack at the Bardo museum.

The talks between Italy and Tunisia included the migration phenomenon and the economic and cultural ties between the two countries. “We have signed six agreements between Tunisia and Italy. Agreements concerning tourism, health, the environment, energy, cultural relations and cooperation. These agreements mark a further step forward in the cooperation between Tunisia and Italy. We intend to proceed with great determination for the growth of our cooperation, for the development, against terrorism, against trafficking in human beings” President Mattarella added.

“Tunisia is for Italy also an important trading partner, as demonstrated by the success of the business forum which was held in May between Tunisian and Italian operators, and after that many Italian operators attended the 2020 Conference in Tunisia last November. We have many common perspectives with Tunisia, and the electric interconnection between Italy and Tunisia is a work that our country considers as a strategic and important achievement for our two countries”, he stressed.

Speaking of migration, the Head of State called for “reaching quickly a new agreement between Tunisia and Italy in terms of migration flows. With Essebsi we talked about the need to govern the phenomenon starting from its causes.”

For President Essebsi “One cannot manage immigration without dealing with development, and terrorism cannot be defeated just with the use of force. We need a comprehensive strategic plan for a future of peace and security”.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews