Fostering International Partnerships between companies from MENA countries and Italian stakeholders operating in Energy and sustainable development (Egitto, Giordania, Libano, Marocco, Palestina, Tunisia)

On March 12, 2018, the Director General of the Directorate for Sustainable Development of the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea (IMELS), Francesco La Camera, and the Director of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Diana Battaggia, signed an agreement to support the creation of international partnerships between Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), operating in Italy and in 6 MENA countries, in the fields of sustainable development, renewable energy and energy efficiency (Fostering International Partnerships between companies from MENA countries and Italian stakeholders operating in Energy and sustainable development).

The activities concern the countries of the MENA area (Middle East and North Africa), with which the IMELS has signed bilateral collaboration agreements on issues related to sustainable development and climate change: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia.

The initiative, which takes shape of a pilot project, has a duration of 12 months, and has been funded by IMELS with 128,400 euros.

The initiative responds to a growing demand for a partnership in the MENA area between Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) dealing with the development and use of innovative technologies in the environmental sector. By strengthening partnerships between companies, the project aims to address in an integrated way the energy, climate and sustainable development challenges, through processes of sharing experiences and technologies, multilevel solutions, and the development of good practices.  

The goal of the Agreement is also to support the creation of employment, at local level, in the green economy sectors and, at the same time, the competitiveness of Italian SMEs, in international markets, creating conditions for a technology transfer.

In that framework UNIDO will support IMELS in the organization of meetings, technical seminars, workshops and field visits, providing its tools and its consolidated experience, to ensure the widest participation of Italian SMEs at the most significant international fairs in the MENA area (including the International Beirut Energy Forum IBEF).