The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) participated at two international financial events as part of the activities and networking opportunities of its 2nd Standing Committee dedicated to Economic, Social and Environmental Cooperation.
In Washington D.C., Hon. Ninel Peia (Romania), on 8-10 October 2014, represented PAM at the Parliamentary Workshop hosted by the Parliamentary Network (PN) of the World Bank & IMF and Women In Parliaments (WIP). The workshop was held in the midst of the Annual Meetings for the two development organizations, as the PN sought to continue fostering dialogue between elected officials and development partners in the knowledge-sharing process.
The parliamentarians from across the globe met with high-level staff from the World Bank & International Monetary Fund (IMF) and acquainted themselves with how the World Bank & IMF serve as a resource of expertise and investment, while also having the forum to discuss ways in which a more comprehensive relationship would yield inclusive, good governance practice.
The international delegation of MPs from the Parliamentary Network and World Bank/IMF officials gave great attention to the role that MPs can play in carrying out missions of crucially shared importance. Several speakers stressed MP engagement with World Bank & IMF projects, simply because good governance is a key in inclusive development, since “The better parliaments work, the better governance will be”.
PAM Secretary General, Amb. Sergio Piazzi took part at the 14th FEMIP Conference, organized by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in collaboration with the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which was held in Naples, Italy, on 30 October 2014. The Conference was entitled “Tools for growth: driving investment in the Mediterranean region”. It was structured around three thematic sessions, namely SMEs, Energy and Transport.
The conference focused on the lending, blending and advising tools available for the Mediterranean, as the region’s countries seek to take advantage of new opportunities for growth against a challenging political, social and economic backdrop.
The PAM Panel on Trade and Investments in the Mediterranean has regularly tackled these issues in a number of international and regional events organized in collaboration with the main national and international actors, including Regulatory Authorities and a number of UN Agencies. Through these ad hoc conferences, PAM has established a network of collaborative engagement, whereby parliamentarians from the Mediterranean region exchange national experiences and good practices with the major stakeholders. The objective for this wealth of ideas and strategies is to find their way through legislation dedicated to these particularly sensitive sectors for economic growth.
On the margins of the Conference, at the request of the PAM Bureau, PAM Secretary General met the Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, Mr. Philippe de Fontaine Vive. Topics raised during the meeting included the update on the respective activities in the Mediterranean in order to develop further the possible areas of cooperation, the role of MPs in support of the mandate of the EIB in the Mediterranean region, and the contribution of the EIB to the work of the PAM Panel on Trade and Investments in the Mediterranean.