Tag Archives: Marseille

World Health Day: FEMISE initiative to face COVID-19 in the Mediterranean

The coronavirus crisis threatens our health and, as a result, it also hurts our societies and our economies. But it offers us an opportunity to rethink our priorities and systems, to make them sustainable, inclusive, in line with the SDGs.

FEMISE contacted its researchers and partners but also young people from the Mediterranean, to remind everyone why investing in Health should be a priority. Protecting vulnerable populations who do not have access to medical care, ensuring better access to health information in countries where internet access remains limited, supporting the work done by women in the health sector, betting on education and human capital…

The Mediterraneans mobilized by FEMISE share their views in the above video.

with : Constantin Tsakas, Mohammad Abu-Zaineh, Leila Berrada Mnimene, Mariam Fadel, Raphaël Colombier, Karine Moukaddem, Myriam Ben Saad, Jamal Bouoiyour

FEMISE celebrates the World Day of Social Justice

For FEMISE, pursuit of social justice is at the core of its mission for inclusive development in the Mediterranean and Africa. The recent publication of the FEMISE EuroMed report on the opportunities of Social Entrepreneurship for sustainable development in the region is just one recent example of this commitment.

In the video below created for this day, FEMISE mobilized researchers, young people and partners of the network to discover their views and actions for Social Justice.

Yasmine Fahim (ERF Programs Manager) stresses how the Economic Research Forum (ERF), a leading think-tank in the MENA region and co-coordinator of FEMISE, has always paid special attention to the issues of Equity and Inequality in the MENA region. First by creating the data infrastructure that would enable researchers to conduct the research. Then, by carrying out multiple research projects on issues such as inequality of opportunities, access to health, education and the labour market and many more. Finally, ERF is producing capacity building initiatives and has invested a lot in enhancing the research capacity in this area, most notably by organizing training workshops where researchers from around the region are taught the most up-to-date research methodologies.

For Tallie Hausser (SciencesPo., Columbia University), her experience as a researcher in Lebanon and Tunisia has been eye-opening in that she has interacted with social justice activists found in unexpected places. The co-author of a recent FEMISE Policy Brief on the potential of Social Entrepreneurship highlights how in Lebanon, actors are creating job opportunities for Palestinian and Syrian women despite legal barriers, or working to solve local waste management crises through impact investing. In Tunisia, social justice activists use innovative financial models to engage the youth in skills development.

Constantin Tsakas, Yasmine Fahim, Tallie Hausser, Gwenda Haïkal, Ameerah Anathalee, Julie Harb

Others such as Ameerah Anathalee (University of Oxford) chose to explore the barriers women leaders face in developing countries. Drawing from data collected during interviews with women leaders in Uganda, she argues that some specific measures issued from western studies can have adverse effects on women’s leadership in developing countries. Furthermore, bottom-up solutions, which are tailored to the country’s socio-economic context, are essential. She adds that far more cross-disciplinary research is needed to inform how we seek to ensure women have a voice in all sectors, particularly in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector, where women play a pivotal role.

Meanwhile, Julie Harb (Université de Montréal) stresses the importance of promoting the rights of migrants in the region. Focusing on the case of Lebanon, she argues that their labour rights are not optimal, with a sponsorship system (kafala in Arabic) in which the legal status of a migrant depends on a sponsor (kafeel) for the entirety of their stay, making them vulnerable. The rights of youth also need to be better protected. With the current economic and financial situation, the country is witnessing a ‘brain drain” with the rise of migration among youth, with those aged below 20 years representing 46% of emigrants.

Such urgency to act for the youth is shared by Gwenda Haikal (CIFE) whose thesis subject focuses specifically on Street Children. She states that nowadays 30% of the population in Lebanon lives under the poverty while 5% panels 90% of the country’s wealth, this social inequality pushes minor children to go on the streets and work instead of following an educational path. She stresses that above all things, education is a golden key. Investing in these kids future is investing in the future of the country and region.

In their final statements, all actors converge towards a single conclusion : that it is up to all of us to act and make sure leaders, businesses and communities in the region truly fulfill their role for social justice.

 

Article by Constantin Tsakas

Gender Equality: FEMISE signs Altafemina’s Charter of Performing Diversity

FEMISE was invited to the Altafemina Festival (November 26th, EuropaCorp Cinema, La Joliette, Marseille, France) and was honored to sign the Altafemina Charter of Performing Diversity. This charter values organizations (companies, associations, institutions) that engage and act concretely for diversity both during their events and in their governing bodies.

Constantin Tsakas (FEMISE, IM) & Samah Ben Dhia (Altafemina)

After a brief presentation of the activities of FEMISE, Dr. Constantin Tsakas (Secretary General of FEMISE, General Manager of Institut de la Méditerranée) emphasized that the signing of this charter is a first step to raise more awareness in the South of the Mediterranean on the question of gender diversity. FEMISE research has shown that women-owned businesses can even illustrate higher labor productivity. Nevertheless, Southern Mediterranean countries* are characterized by extremely low female participation rates. This rate is 29% on average and the gap with other regions in the world is considerable.

Thanking Altafemina for this honor, Dr Tsakas added that gender diversity is a strength for FEMISE, the administrative team is made up of both men and women, and more than 70% of the young “ChangeMakers” of FEMISE researchers are women. Above all, they are competent and dynamic people, regardless of their gender.

Dr. Tsakas also presented the activities of FEMISE that contribute to a culture of diversity and gender equality in the Mediterranean. Among them, he highlighted the recent partnership with Emerging Valley, in which FEMISE will mobilize young Mediterranean women who lead, support and / or finance projects with significant economic and social impact in their communities, societies and industries. More activities, including awareness-raising videos as part of a partnership with Altafemina, are expected in the following months.

 

FEMISE is a Think-Tank, a network of research institutes in economics, which produces research reports for policymakers on both sides of the Mediterranean. The network mobilizes more than 100 university centers from all over the Mediterranean on 4 thematic axes: Trade Integration, Private Sector Development and Innovation, Environmental Awareness and Development of new inclusive and sustainable growth models. The results of this research are disseminated through platforms that foster dialogue and policy debate among stakeholders, which include researchers, the international community and policy makers.

* Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Palestinian Territories

EV2019 workshop: Empowering Women and Youth Leaders in the Mediterranean and Africa (Dec 4th, TheCamp, Aix-en-Pce)

Mediterranean social and economic development can only be achieved through a partnership that ensures full participation of #women and youth.

FEMISE and Institut de la Méditerranée (IM) participate at the latest edition of Emerging Valley, the Emerging Innovations Hub between Europe and Africa, a unique occasion to explore emerging ecosystems and connect with African tech leaders !

Want to learn more about Social and Economic Innovations in the Mediterranean ? Join our #EV2019 workshop “Social Change Makers, Act 2 : Empowering Women and Youth Leaders in the Mediterranean and Africa” (December 4th, 14h-16h, TheCamp, Aix-en-Provence, France) !

Register by clicking here, then in the second page (sessions) please click on our workshop (4-December, 14h-16h) entitled “WORKSHOP Empowering Women and Youth Change Makers in the Mediterranean and Africa”

The Concept Note and the Programme of the IM-FEMISE workshop are available by clicking here.

Come discover the testimonies of these women and young “Change Makers” who shine with their innovative spirit in the Mediterranean! Among the speakers at the IM-FEMISE workshop:

  • Samah Ben Dhia, President AltaFemina (Tunisia-France)
  • A’Laa Chbaro, ImpACT the World (Social Business) and WonderAid (all MENA region, Lebanon)
  • Chaymae Samir, fondatrice du cabinet CS International, Founder and CEO of SUNDAY IVY (Morocco, UK)
  • Layla Al Qasim, Landmark Hotels Company and 17 Asset Management (Jordan)
  • Hajar Khamlichi, President Mediterranean Youth Climate Network (Morocco)
  • Patricia Augier, Coordinator and President of Scientific Committee, IM-FEMISE (France)
  • Constantin Tsakas, General Manager of IM, General Secretary of FEMISE (France, Greece)
  • Chiraz Karoui, European Investment Bank analyst, Women Empowerment expert (Tunisia)
  • Menna Rabie, Consultant Rainmaking, former Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program Lead at Bedaya (Egypt)
  • Karine Moukaddem, Sustainable Development expert, co-organizer of Union for the Mediterraneans’ (UfM) Youth Strategy at the University for Youth and Development of North-South Center of Council of Europe.
  • Hatoumata Magassa, Bond’INNOV (France/Mali)

For a look back at the IM-FEMISE workshop “Discovering Social Change Makers” during the previous edition of EmergingValley (2018), check out the video report below.

FEMISE welcomes 6 new members !

Following the accession of the 6 new members, FEMISE is pleased to announce that the number of members of the network reaches 109 institutes: 58 of the North and 51 of the South.

This is a vote of confidence for FEMISE, which is developing to become the most impactful EU-Med network, with a growing number of economic and political researchers from both shores working together for inclusive and sustainable development and regional integration, and with a growing number of contacts with policy makers and international organizations.

 

Bios about new FEMISE members:

 

 

Institut Supérieur de Commerce et d’Administration des Enterprise (ISCAE), Morocco :  ISCAE (Higher Institute of Commerce and Business Administration) is a major school of business and management in Morocco. It has the status of public institute under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. ISCAE has three campuses: ISCAE Casablanca, ISCAE Rabat, and ISCAE Guinea. This Institute cooperates closely with the national economic fabric in order to achieve a perfect symbiosis between the training it provides and the evolving needs of the private sector.

 

 

 

Fondation pour les etudes et recherches sur le développement Internationales (FERDI), France : FERDI is a think tank which was created in 2003. Its primary, research-based purpose, is to influence the international discussion on major development issues. Independent and not-for-profit, FERDI mobilizes high-level researchers in the field of international development and offers relevant and innovative thinking on the key issues in development economics. FERDI is particularly active on issues related to development effectiveness, sustainable development, and global governance.

 

 

 

Institut Tunisien de la Compétitivité et des Etudes Quantitatives (ITCEQ), Tunisia :  The Tunisian Institute of Competitiveness and Quantitative Studies (previously called Institute of Quantitative Economics) is a major Tunisian center for economic and social studies and competitiveness. It was created in 1973. Among its missions, it ensures the follow-up work, analysis of the Tunisian economy and its determinants at the product-level and at the macroeconomic, sectoral and regional levels and carries out surveys on the competitiveness of the private sector and the business climate.

 

Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS), Cairo, Egypt : ACPSS is one of the leading think tanks in Egypt and the region, consistently rated among the top 30 think tanks in the world in the global “Go-To think Tanks” annually produced at the University of Pennsylvania (USA). ACPSS serves as a connection space where knowledge-based policies/consultancy are produced and where different challenges faced by the region are also thoroughly studied.

 

 

 

 

DIAL- UMR LEDa – Paris Dauphine, France :  The LEDa, Dauphine’s Economics Laboratory, is a research unit created in 2009. It brings together all the economist professors-researchers from Paris Dauphine University as well as IRD and CNRS researchers. Its decision-oriented research focuses on several broad-spectrum society issues: health and aging, development and mobility, macroeconomic policies, environment and climate, and finance.

 

Yaşar University, Turquie :  Yaşar University is a university, in Izmir, Turkey. The university faculty teaches in English, with programs at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. Yaşar University presents itself as a “boutique university”. Its goal is to be identified as a small but prestigious international Turkish university.[1] Yaşar University also adheres to a policy of internationalization: a process of connecting a globalized world with the local community through a variety of social responsibility projects.

Mediterranean Youth Climate Network, FEMISE and IM conclude a partnership for the Environment and Youth in the Mediterranean

Mediterranean Youth Climate Network (MYCN), FEMISE and Institut de la Méditerranée conclude a strategic partnership in favour of the Environment and Youth in the Mediterranean

Press release – March 22 2019

Mediterranean Youth Climate Network (MYCN), FEMISE and Institut de la Méditerranée conclude a strategic partnership in favour of the Environment and Youth in the Mediterranean

MYCN, Institut de la Méditerranée and FEMISE announce their collaboration in the framework of a strategic partnership. The three institutions are committed actors in their efforts to contribute to inclusive and sustainable development models, to promote environmental and youth-inclusion values at the Mediterranean and international levels. They are aware of the need to pool means in order to act for strengthening the impact and outreach of messages, as well as to enrich knowledge.

The works of the FEMISE think-tank and of Institut de la Méditerranée show that new models are needed in the Mediterranean to bring about economic, social and environmental change and to show the whole society the potential of young Mediterranean people as solution-makers. For its part, MYCN is a Mediterranean Youth Network for Climate, a place conceived for the sharing of ideas and the implementation of concrete actions. It is also a place for the capitalization of the know-how of young people around the Mediterranean, placing them at the forefront of climate action, which is a major priority for the region.

Therefore, this partnership aims to create a multidisciplinary and dynamic virtuous circle in the Mediterranean, allowing for impactful proposals and actions to emerge. It will focus on themes ranging from the fight against Climate Change, Water-related issues and the promotion of Sustainable Development, to Responsible Entrepreneurship dynamics carried by the youth and the role of young people in Research and Innovation. Amongst other things, the partners will deploy their cooperation efforts to:

  • elaborate and develop cooperation projects for young people in the euro-mediterranean region,
  • create, animate and promote a set-up to allow for a Mediterranean ecosystem of young people with environmental impact to emerge,
  • organize joint events and publications and carry out awareness-raising in the countries around the Mediterranean.

For MYCN, FEMISE and Institut de la Méditerranée, it’s not just about talking regarding the youth, but about working with them and including them for inclusive and sustainable solutions in the Mediterranean!

For more information, please contact :

MYCN : Hajar Khamlichi, President, Mediterranean Youth Climate Network, hajarkhamlichi32@gmail.com www.facebook.com/MYCNetwork/      

IM / FEMISE :
Dr. Constantin Tsakas, General Manager of Institut de la Méditerranée, General Secretary of FEMISE c.tsakas@femise.org ++ 33 (0)4 91 31 51 95
www.femise.org

Beyond Reform and Development & FEMISE conclude a strategic partnership for Inclusive Development in the Mediterranean

Natalia Menhall, Beyond Reform and Development & Constantin Tsakas, FEMISE

Press release – March 18, 2019

Beyond Reform and Development and FEMISE conclude a strategic partnership for Sustainable and Inclusive Development in the Mediterranean

Beyond Reform and Development and FEMISE announce their collaboration in the framework of a strategic partnership. Both institutions are committed actors that provide policy research, capacity development and advocate reform for inclusive and sustainable development models in the Mediterranean.

The works of the FEMISE think-tank show that new models are needed in the Mediterranean to bring about sustainable development, innovation, social change and inclusive societies. Meanwhile, Beyond Reform and Development aspires to attain participatory governance systems, innovative policies and inclusive civil society across the Middle East and North Africa through creating learning opportunities for people, institutions, and communities. Both actors are renowned for their ability to bridge global knowledge with the Mediterranean and Arab context.

Grounded in decades of experience, this partnership aims to create a multidisciplinary and dynamic virtuous circle in the Mediterranean that is displaying an innovative and distinctive stance, allowing for impactful proposals to emerge.It will focus on themes ranging from sustainable finance and social entrepreneurship to private sector development and innovation.

Amongst other things, the two partners will deploy their cooperation efforts in the euro-mediterranean region to :

  1. Develop actions and projects for Social Impact at the research, policy, dialogue, and capacity building levels.
  2. Foster and advance the development of Social Entrepreneurship frameworks and ecosystems in the region.
  3. organize joint events and publications and carry out awareness-raising campaigns for Social Impact.

For Beyond Reform and Development and FEMISE, great ideas have meaning only when they are matched with great execution!

Stay tuned for our forthcoming actions for Sustainable and Inclusive Development in the Mediterranean!

 

For more information, please contact :

Beyond Reform and Development : Ms Natalia Menhall, Chairwoman, nmenhall@beyondrd.com, www.beyondrd.com

FEMISE :
Dr. Constantin Tsakas, General Manager of Institut de la Méditerranée, General Secretary of FEMISE c.tsakas@femise.org ++ 33 (0)4 91 31 51 95 
www.femise.org

FEMISE MED BRIEF no17 : “Closing the gender gap: policy-making that promotes inclusive Mediterranean societies”

Karine Moukaddem

The FEMISE Policy Brief series MED BRIEF aspires to provide Forward Thinking for the EuroMediterranean region. The briefs contain succinct, policy-oriented analysis of relevant EuroMed issues, presenting the views of FEMISE researchers and collaborators to policy-makers.

The latest FEMISE MED Brief is on ” Closing the gender gap: policy-making that promotes inclusive Mediterranean societies” and is available for download here.

It is also available in Arabic here.

 

Summary : This MED Brief presents some preliminary findings of a recently launched assessment of existing policy measures regarding women empowerment issues in the South Mediterranean region. In order to explain the persistence of numerous gender gaps, I examine the reasons behind the inefficiency of national policies regarding gender equality, by comparing the wanted effects of implemented legal measures with the latest state of play in terms of gender issues in the different countries of the region.
Combatting unconscious biases and policy inefficiency goes through increasing the outreach of female success stories, mentoring, promoting collaboration between stakeholders and embedding women empowerment in public-private partnerships.

The list of FEMISE MED BRIEFS is available here.

The policy brief has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union within the context of the FEMISE program. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

Med Change Makers e07 : Karine MOUKADDEM, Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in the MENA region

 

FEMISE recently launched its series of interviews called « Med Change Makers ».

« Med Change Makers » are text and video-based interviews that allow dynamic researchers of the FEMISE network to illustrate how their research addresses a policy-relevant question and how it contributes to the policy-making process in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

 

Going towards Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in the South-Med and MENA region

Interview with Karine Moukaddem, SciencesPo, Institut de la Méditerranée and FEMISE

FEMISE places the issue of Inclusiveness at the heart of its research strategy. The issue of women empowerment in the Mediterranean, and more generally in MENA, is of paramount importance to move towards a model of sustainable and inclusive development.

Author of a forthcoming FEMISE MED BRIEF, Karine Moukaddem provides an assessment of existing policy measures on women empowerment in the southern shore of the Mediterranean. She argues that behind the existence of a “Mediterranean paradox” are structural obstacles that are crucial to overcome. Interview :

1. You talk about the “Mediterranean Paradox” while describing the situation of women in the South-Med. What does it imply and what are its root causes?

The Mediterranean Paradox is easy to explain: On the one hand, educational attainments of women improved drastically in the region and female enrolment in schools and universities increased considerably. But on the other hand, women seem to still be struggling to find a place in the labour market. Female labour force participation rates in the region remain lower than in other developing countries and stagnant. In other words, it seems like women participation to the labour market in the South Med is constrained by other factors than access to education.

Regarding the root causes of the paradox, several obstacles are identified as impeding on women’s economic inclusion.

First, the analysis of the labour market structure in the region shows that while in the public sector employment opportunities contract, opportunities in the formal private sector do not rise. Therefore, the increase in the number of educated women translates in an increased female unemployment or a lower female participation in the formal sectors. Second, women’s overall labour participation levels seem to be affected by economic development and improvements in gender equality legislation (or lack of) as well as by the private foreign ownership of the firm and its exporting activities. Other impediments such as the lack of safe, efficient and cheap public transports hamper commuting to work for women.

However, such economic and practical explanations do not explain the whole Paradox; some key factors are cultural. This argument states that women from conservative societies would tend to participate less in the labour market given the large impact of social norms on their trade-off between working outside and being housewives. The considerable negative effect of traditional social norms would be materialised in several conscious and unconscious biases that dissuade women from choosing a professional carrier.

To understand the full situation of women today, all of these arguments matter. The situation is a complex mix between explicit concrete and implicit psychological obstacles that interact both at the macro and micro levels. Women in the South-Med today face structural multi-layered self-reinforcing inequalities deeply rooted in the system.

2. a) Has the situation of women in the South-Med region been improving in terms of concrete economic empowerment?

Yes, it has been improving in the region through some advancement in education mostly and enhanced legislations. Yet, inequalities are still prevalent in the region and concrete economic empowerment seems to be far from reached. The South-Med region seems to be behind in gender equality matters compared to other regions and the situation is actually improving slower than in other developing regions such as East Asia and Pacific or Latin America and the Caribbean. ILO estimates suggest that female labour force participation reached 59% in East Asia and Pacific in 2017, while in Latin America this rate reached 51.5%. As for the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, the female labour force participation is less than half and close to only 20.6% in 2017. The region also lays behind when it comes to a other indicators of women economic and political participation.

b) You argue that the situation is not improving at the correct pace despite the measures adopted, why?

The answer is simple, when it comes to policy making regarding gender equality issues, two aspects are key to understand the inefficiency of the available measures adopted: On the one hand, there are obstacles that impede on the full implementation of measures. On the other hand, these measures are not comprehensive of the situation of women in the region.

First, measures are often hindered by the lack of social will to change. Due to the unconscious biases and other implicit and explicit channels, top-down initiatives are often misunderstood by locals, not accepted by the whole society and seen as inadequate. Mentalities and social norms remain not open to structural change, therefore despite national and international efforts, locals will find a way to deviate or pretend to change the situation without real consequences on empowerment.

Moreover, the measures adopted are often punctual uncoordinated projects and legal adjustments that do not into account the whole picture. The symptoms of the inequality problem are tackled but not the roots. Measures often lack consistency, sustainability/durability and are not part of a holistic approach to the matter. For instance, it is not enough to implement quotas, the system itself needs to work on reforming the role given to women and deconstructing the stereotypes and structural norms. In addition, there is no one South-Med woman but different profiles with different needs and that face different degrees of discrimination. For example, rural women accumulate inequalities and the answers to empower them are not the same as for women living in the capital.

3. How can the state create the conditions for women to fulfil their untapped potential?

To reach a structural empowerment the state needs to implement comprehensive laws and women empowerment needs to be a priority in National agendas, not only an aspiration. There is a need for national strategies creating the conditions allowing women to fulfil their potentials in all sectors of the economy, society and national politics. Creating a flexible national framework that understands women’s needs in each sector of activity and each context, would allow to institutionalize women empowerment. These principles would lead to a better framework for legislative reforms especially in issues such as family law and a modification of educational curricula to support social change.

However, to ensure a real empowerment of women, the state needs to coordinate its action with the other stakeholders. With a focus on children’s education, coordinated action could help change the perceived role of women in the society especially that biases start to develop at a really young age (around 3-5 years old). To make the message more relatable and legitimate, the State needs to work with local leaders such as religious leaders and other influencers that would help mimic good practices and expand the influence of adopted measures. However, working with the whole ecosystem does not mean working on improving the picture of women at the expense of men. It means to include men in the debate and to make them aware of the benefits of gender equality to the whole society.

4. In which ways can the private sector provide solutions to improve the way we invest in women?

Beyond understanding the positive economic externalities of gender equalities, the private sector could help improve policy making by building public-private partnerships in several fields relevant to women empowerment such as the digital sector by training women in coding, investing in vocational training, data gathering and rural areas.

Moreover, to ensure women’s economic empowerment enterprises could offer alternative and flexible working environments that take into account modern perceptions of responsibility sharing in a household. This could mean offering the possibility of work-from home for men and women for 1 day a week or a payed paternity leave on top of the maternity leave or a possibility of bringing children to the office 2 days a week… In addition to these internal policies, enterprises could also install principles of gender equality in their internal functioning by setting a quota in their management boards.

Additionally, enterprises can have an impact on stereotypes and social norms through marketing strategies and Ads. If the message of ads becomes more reliant on gender equality principles, stigmas could decrease.

5. You talk about role modeling and mentoring. How can it contribute to women empowerment?

This is a truly important point. Role modeling and mentoring are essential in order to instigate social change not only by empowering young women and raising their self-esteem and confidence but also by showing men the potential of women and allowing young men to grow accustomed to equality of chances.

On the smaller scale, mentoring can take the figure of small local initiatives working with women on increasing their self-esteem or exploring all the potential professional options available to them. This is the case of portraitists and mentors intend to help women grow more independent and strong.

On the bigger scale, initiatives such as establishing a TV channel featuring women from the region or the launch of a regional comity for gender equality regrouping influential women from different backgrounds could help increase the visibility of success stories. This would allow young women to identify with successful women and thrive to achieve their untapped potential. This is due to a crucial aspect of role modeling, it helps women not only explore their options in terms of goals but also in terms of ways and paths to achieve them.

Social norms can be changed and creating a virtuous circle for women empowerment from within the ecosystem and based on role-modeling, solidarity and mentoring can be a valuable step to achieve this.

 

Interview by Constantin Tsakas

This activity received financial support from the European Union through the FEMISE project on “Support to Economic Research, studies and dialogues of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership”. Any views expressed are the sole responsibility of the speakers.

Morocco and Tunisia in Global Value Chains: focus on business services as innovation drivers

In this report we will argue that for a better understanding of how business services can contribute to competitiveness and growth in Morocco and Tunisia decomposing trade flows in terms of value added can be a useful first step. We start from the OECD-WTO Trade in Value Added database (OECD, 2016) to decompose exports in value added in business services from Morocco and Tunisia to the EU28 and to the rest of the world. This decomposition is used to compute several indicators of participation in the GVCs. Two business services industries are examined: computer and related activities and R&D and other business activities.

Combining an adequate trade liberalisation and investment policy reforms and the promotion of business linkages between foreign and domestic firms could help local companies move up to GVCs thanks of the transfer of knowledge, skills and technology.