“It is necessary to build a partnership based on strategic investment on young people, working on two sources promoting entrepreneurial activities and cultural exchanges. We will sign an agreement for a great Mediterranean Erasmus that Italy will support with scholarships and greater mobility”. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Angelino Alfano, speaking at the third edition of the Forum Rome MED 2017-Mediterranean. “This is the right way to build a Mediterranean identity, to bring our peoples and our countries closer to investing in culture. The Mediterranean – he adds – can become a meeting point between different cultures or can degenerate into a situation of confrontation, terror and desperation, it is up to us to do everything possible so that the first condition can be fulfilled “.

“The Mediterranean must be a line that unites and the mobility of young talents is fundamental to foster mutual knowledge and a constructive exchange between the north and the southern shores of the Mediterranean. For this reason we have thought of an Erasmus of the Mediterranean, with scholarships and mobility programs for university students and young researchers. An investment in culture to open new channels of dialogue and create a common Mediterranean identity, which favors the conditions for security and peace in the region”, says Alfano, on the signing of the Joint Declaration on the “Mediterranean Erasmus initiative”.

The Declaration was signed by Minister Alfano, by the Vice-President of the Presidential Council of Libya, Ahmed Maitig, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic and Popular Algerian Republic, Abdelkader Messahel, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Sameh Shoukry, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Tunisian Republic, Khemaies Jhinaoui and the Ambassador of the Republic of Lebanon, Mira Daher Violides.

The aim of the project is to reiterate the centrality of the Mediterranean for Italian foreign policy and the importance of meetings and exchanges between students and young researchers, as a fundamental tool for strengthening mutual knowledge and understanding among the Mediterranean countries.

The idea of an Erasmus of the Mediterranean constitutes a concrete continuation of the path started with the program of the Farnesina, “Italy, Culture, Mediterranean”, launched in the margins of the OSCE Conference of Palermo on 24 and 25 October.

With the Declaration, Italy commits itself two fronts: 1) to increase the number of scholarships for students of the aforementioned countries; 2) encourage, within the EU, the strengthening of the Erasmus + Program, so that mobility programs to and from these countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean are recognized as a priority and greater financial resources are allocated.

The Declaration also establishes the shared commitment to promote and further support inter-university cooperation and encourage the creation of programs aimed at obtaining qualifications that are recognizable in their respective legal systems.

Source: medNews

A study was presented in Rabat on the socio-economic development of the Moroccan population, carried out by the Haut-Commissariat au Plan (HCP), in collaboration with the World Bank. This report highlights the improvement of living conditions in Morocco, especially for the poorest, as witnessed by the continuous reduction of poverty and economic vulnerability. A positive situation benefiting both the urban and rural population. Nevertheless, the disparities between the city and the countryside remain considerable: in the first, the incidence of poverty in the period 2001-2014 has dropped from 7.6% to 1.6%. In the same period of time, from 25.1% to 9.5% in the countryside.

Despite the positive trend in income data, the perceived poverty index should be emphasized: between 2007 and 2014 the subjective poverty rate found among Moroccan citizens increased by 3.4%, reaching 45.1% and it is conditioned by the feeling of the most disadvantaged social classes, particularly widespread among young people and women. The study defines Morocco as a medium-low income country; in 2014, the wealthy class accounted for 10.1% of the population, the average class for 58.7%, the categories at risk for poverty 26.4% and the poor for only 4.8%. It should also be noted that the structure of the labor market is dominated by low-level jobs, the result of the lack of high-tech economic activities. Finally, the labor market in Morocco does not appear to be sufficiently inclusive and able to create a number of appropriate opportunities with respect to population pressure.

Source: medNews

Ten people were arrested today for the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galicia, who was killed on October 16 in the explosion of her car. This was announced by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who during a press conference explained that the arrests were taken during an operation that took place in Marsa, Zebbug, Bugibba and other areas of the island. Some of those arrested had already appeared in court in relation to other cases and are well known to the police, while the other suspects have no criminal record.

The Maltese Prime Minister thanked for the work done by the Maltese investigators. The joint operation was conducted by the police, armed forces, secret services, as well as by the FBI, Europol and Finnish officials.

The investigators have 48 hours to interrogate the people arrested and indict them.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

Mobile telephony accounts for around € 297 million a year. In 2016, Vodafone Albania Sh.a, a part of the Newbury-based multinational Vodafone Group Plc, was the first operator with 50.8% market share on active users, followed by Telekom Albania (part of the Deutsche Telekom group) with 30.7%, ALBtelecom with 13.1% (Turkish majority shareholding) and the Albanian company Plus Communication with 5.4%. The Competition Authority recently approved the request for Plus Communication for the transfer of frequencies to the two largest operators, Vodafone Albania and Telecom Albania, and announced that for reasons of financial difficulty, Plus Communication can not continue its investments which would allow their customers qualitative services on competitive terms. The magazine Monitor writes. In order to ensure the continuity of contract performance, the Competition Authority will cooperate with the Electronic Postal and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP) to monitor all steps to be taken to protect Plus Communication customers and their passage to other mobile networks.

Source: medNews

Turkey aims to sign an expanded agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in January 2018, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekçi has said, after participating in the EFTA ministerial meeting in Geneva on Nov. 24. Turkey has had a free trade agreement with EFTA since 1991 and is now in the process of expanding the agreement.

The EFTA consists of four European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The joint statement underlined “the already close economic ties between the EFTA States and Turkey, and the significant potential to advance economic cooperation and exchange by further enhancing the framework conditions for trade and investment between them.” The World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland will take place between Jan. 23-26, 2018. Despite not being a member of EU, Turkey has had a Customs Union agreement with the bloc since 1995. Source: Hurriyet Daily News.

Source: medNews

The Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando received a delegation of the Republic of Malta in the Villa Niscemi, representation office of the City. Orlando met Vanessa Frazier, Ambassador to Italy of the Republic of Malta, Deo Debattista, Parliamentary Secretary of the Republic of Malta with Delegation to Health and Public Hygiene, Olaf McKay, Head of Cabinet, Leanne Burnell, Official in the Cabinet of SS on Culture and Valletta 2018, Kelly Peplow, spokesman. The delegation is visiting Palermo to define a cultural twinning for 2018, when Palermo will be Italian Capital of Culture and Valletta European Capital of Culture. The meeting was also attended by the municipal council member Giulio Cusumano.

“The meeting with the representative of the Maltese Government for Culture, together with the Ambassador in Malta, Malta and with some of the economic operators of our city and Maltese, was an occasion to confirm an already started path of exchange of artistic experiences, tourism and entrepreneurship that will find their realization in Palermo, with Casa Malta, a week of initiatives that will see the continuous presence of operators, entrepreneurs and artists from Palermo, invited by the Maltese Government, to let them know the program of La Valletta 2018. Among the activities today – Orlando continued – there is also the exchange of young Maltese and Sicilian artists, thanks to the commitment of the director of the Academy of Arts, Mario Zito, according to a model already operating among artists of Palermo and many other cities in the world”.

The Mayor, in welcoming Maltese representatives, finally reiterated “Palermo’s commitment to becoming more and more a city of welcome”, by agreeing with the delegation on the vision of the Mediterranean as a “liquid continent that has its plural identity which makes dialogue, peace and respect for human rights its own distinctive feature”.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

At the COP23, the international conference on Global Warming Prevention, held in Bonn between 6 and 17 November, the Director-General for the MENA region of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Christiane Bogemann Hagedorn, announced a support program for Morocco. Specifically, German Cooperation will allocate a € 357 million grant to the North African country, of which 90% will be aimed at supporting environmental protection and renewable energy production. Christiane Bogemann Hagedorn said Morocco is an example of energy transition, as witnessed by the Ouarzazate solar power station, confirming that Germany will support the Kingdom in the pursuit of its renewable targets. In this regard, the Director-General for Enlargement recalled the partnership launched in 2016 in Marrakech in support of the implementation of the NDC (Nationally Determined Contributions), objectives climate that the nations have given themselves autonomously and voluntarily, to help maintain global temperature growth within 2 degrees Celsius.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews

Eni’s Chief Executive Officer, Claudio Descalzi, met in Nicosia with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Anastasiadis.

The meeting was the opportunity to update Cyprus President on Eni’s activities in the Republic of Cyprus and jointly discuss about future opportunities. Claudio Descalzi re-confirmed the commitment of Eni to Cyprus hydrocarbon exploration and the Eastern Mediterranean in general and illustrated to the President the forthcoming exploration campaign in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Cyprus.

Eni and its partner Total are planning to start exploration drilling by the end of this year in Block 6 Cyprus EEZ, just 9 months after the signature of the Block Exploration and Production Sharing Contract (EPSC); then Eni and its partner Kogas will start the drilling of the first exploration well in Block 3.

The meeting was also an opportunity to discuss the exploitation of the country’s hydrocarbon resources potentially utilizing existing infrastructures in Egypt where Eni is present as Shareholder.

Finally, Eni’s CEO also made a review about possible synergies related to energy projects in the East Mediterranean, an area that could represent an important diversification source and route for the future energy supply of Europe.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews