The establishment of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean Panel on External Trade and Investments in the Mediterranean is gathering support also by the private sector in the region. The Naples Branch of the Association of Italian Industrialists, Confindustria, has offered to host the first meeting of the Steering Committee next November, where a strategic plan will be agreed upon and priorities set.

Details for the event were agreed in early July, in Naples, by PAM Secretary General, Sergio Piazzi, and the President of the Union of Industrialists of Naples, Giovanni Lettieri, who offered full support and assistance in the hosting and organisation of the meeting, in the presence of Under Secretary at the Office of the Italian Prime Minister, Hon. Gianni Letta, and the President of Confindustria, Ms. Emma Marcegaglia.

The Naples event will mark the commencement of operations of an inter-institutional and inter-sectoral platform for the promotion of commerce, a free trade zone and investments in the Mediterranean. “PAM is interested in understanding what kind of assistance the business community in general, and SMEs in particular need, and how to pave the way for the establishment of the Mediterranean Development / Investment Bank (MIB). We believe that a first concrete step it to gather around the same table parliamentarians, industrialists, unions, banks, and national development agencies”, PAM Secretary General said.

The PAM Panel on External Trade and Investments was launched on the occasion of a two day meeting in Lisbon (27-28 May, 2010), hosted by the Portuguese Parliament and co-organised together with the Portuguese Business Development Agency (AICEP).