Konklusioner og anbefalinger fra UfM-PA's Økonomiske Komité, der blev vedtaget på plenarsessionen i Jordan den 9. februar 2014

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Den Parlamentariske Fors. for EU-Middelhavsområdet
Til:
Dato:
Delegationens medlemmer og stedfortrædere
25. februar 2014
Konklusioner og anbefalinger fra UfM-PA's Økonomiske Komité, der
blev vedtaget på plenarsessionen i Jordan den 9. februar 2014
Hermed følger konklusioner og anbefalinger fra UfM-PA's Økonomiske Komi-
té, der blev vedtaget på plenarsessionen i Jordan den 9. februar 2014.
Med venlig hilsen
Susanne Henriksen,
UfM-PA’s sekretariat
Den Parlamentariske Fors. for EU-Middelhavsområdet 2013-14
UfM-PA Alm.del Bilag 5
Offentligt (02)


PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE
UNION FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN
RECOMMENDATION
of the Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs, Social
Affairs and Education
on:
Financing of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises and Microfinance and
its role in the Mediterranean
Den Parlamentariske Fors. for EU-Middelhavsområdet 2013-14
UfM-PA Alm.del Bilag 5
Offentligt (02)
The Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs, Social Affairs and Education of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM),
1. Emphasises the importance of empowerment of SMEs and micro-enterprises for
stimulating economic development, employment and inclusive growth in the
Mediterranean countries: and underlines the vitality of removing various constraints
such as limited access to finance, cumbersome bureaucratic procedures in setting up,
operating and growing a business, poor state of infrastructure and lack of effective
institutional structures, and in general of improving the business climate in the UfM
Member States through, in particular, improving justice, facilitating and easing
taxation, fighting corruption, improving the property situation for the benefit of
SMEs, and combating property speculation; and invites the UfM Member States to
develop holistic and sustainable SME development strategies as part of broader
national development programs in cooperation with international and local institutions
and with the Euro-Mediterranean Local and Regional Assembly (ARLEM) and the
Assembly of Euro-Mediterranean Economic and Social Committees.
2. Underlines the importance of the pivotal role of the World Bank and the European
Investment Bank in strengthening entrepreneurship and the productivity of SMEs, and
in supporting the development of microfinance and projects concerning access to jobs
and the development of urban and rural infrastructure in the Mediterranean partner
countries, in particular through the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and
Partnership (FEMIP), which aims to promote sustainable economic development;
emphasises the crucial nature of the investment operations of the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to the east of the Mediterranean basin;
notes the role of the European Central Bank in development and assisting growth in
the Euro-Mediterranean basin; calls on the economic and financial institutions to
increase their support, for example by providing suitable financial instruments, in
order to ensure workable and sustainable economic growth, which is necessary for
successful democratic transition.
3. Urges the UfM Member States to improve the administrative and regulatory
environment and the definition of SMEs and micro-enterprises through ensuring
unified, simplified and flexible procedures, lower tax rates and promoting an
institutional framework for SME and micro-enterprise support services to enable such
services to stimulate and encourage ‘informal’ enterprises, which are a widespread
phenomenon in the region, to adapt to the rules of a formal economy through
measures such as providing enhanced access to credit, health, education and pension
systems.
4. Considering the low level of access to finance in the Mediterranean region calls for
facilitating the access of SMEs and micro-enterprises to finance through
a) Developing funding programmes by the governments and international
financial institutions or regional development banks aiming at supporting
SMEs and micro-enterprises and improving the capability of local retail banks
to enter the SME and micro-enterprise business.
b) Overcoming the reluctance of banks to lend to SMEs and micro-enterprises
through improving the relations between banks and entrepreneurs, developing
mechanisms for reducing high risks, particularly of insolvency, and the cost of
lending to SMEs and micro-enterprises; encouraging banks to develop
financial products and services better adapted to the needs of SMEs and
micro-enterprises,
c) Helping entrepreneurs to better understand the banking system and the
assistance available for financing SMEs and micro-enterprises;
d) Developing alternative sources of funding such as microfinance, leasing,
equity financing and venture capital and establishing financial institutions
specialised in financing SMEs and micro-enterprises, and analysing the
advantages and risks which the projected Mediterranean Development Bank
might bring to SMEs and micro-enterprises;
e) Modernising stock exchanges and increasing their ability to finance the
economies of the UfM Member States.
5. Underlines the role of the EU in effectively promoting investment; recalls in this
context the EU’s contribution of EUR 3.5 billion for the period 2007-2013 and an
extra EUR 700 million via financing programmes and the SPRING programme,
which aims to support the private and public sector; calls on the EU to continue with
its support and develop more initiatives in this regard.
6. Highlights the importance of improving the management skills, capacity and
competitiveness of the SMEs and micro-enterprises through providing support
including management and administrative training, access to information and
communication technologies, and business mentoring; encourages more networking
and partnerships opportunities for SMEs and micro-enterprises such as cooperation
with big enterprises and public and international companies as well as other SMEs
and micro-enterprises, in order to establish networks and clusters and create business-
support structures to benefit young entrepreneurs; calls on the members of the UfM to
improve relations between national chambers of commerce with the aim of
establishing a Mediterranean chamber of commerce;
7. Recognizes the role of financing SMEs and of microfinance in strengthening financial
inclusion, economic activity and fighting poverty in the Southern Mediterranean and
in the countries along its north coast, given the disastrous consequences of the
financial crisis on the economy and employment; welcomes the rise of micro-credit
programs especially in Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia; calls for more assistance for
countries in transition in the area of SME development (technical and financial
assistance and professional training); urges the Member States to establish necessary
regulatory and financial framework and improve microfinance programs by learning
from the experience and best practices of the countries performing well in this area;
8. Notes that social entrepreneurship favours economic and social growth which is
sustainable and inclusive; underlines the importance of enhancing the participation of
women and youth in the SME development strategies and microfinance programs
with additional specific targeted initiatives aimed at improving the proportion of
young people and women in the private sector ; considers it vital to run training
programmes for women and young people in order to make them aware of the various
financing possibilities available; in this context, welcomes the initiative of the forums
for women entrepreneurs, co-organised by the Association of Organisations of
Mediterranean Businesswomen (AFAEMME), in the region; encourages the
development of self-employment programmes to benefit young graduates.
9. Underlines the aim of achieving the implementation of a Euro-Mediterranean
cooperation and economic and social growth area and promoting economic
integration between countries in the region by consolidating the institutional
framework established under the Agadir Agreement signed by Egypt, Jordan,
Morocco and Tunisia; calls for SMEs and micro-enterprises to be integral parts and
beneficiaries of the economic and regional procedures currently being implemented.
2013-2014 Activity Report
Over the 2013 and 2014 working period, the Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs,
Social Affairs and Education held two meetings: on 22 November 2013 in Istanbul (Turkey)
and on 8 February 2014 in Amman.
In this period, the Committee focused on the problems of the SMEs, especially in access to
finance, and microfinance programmes and their effects in the Mediterranean.