The CTA Communication Officer Marisol Castro has participated today in the New Africa Business Development Forum framed in the International Congress MedaWeek Barcelona 2019, to present the INNOWWIDE second call for projects. This call will be launched by the European INNOWWIDE project in 2020.

The congress has taken place at the Casa Llotja de Mar in Barcelona and has been organised by the Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCAME).

The CTA Communication Officer has participated in a round table aimed at exploring new ways to promote business collaboration between Europe and Africa, boost investment and improve the business climate. The round table has been moderated by the general director of European and Mediterranean Affairs of the Regional Government of Catalonia, Alfonso González. The president of the JB Group, Jilani Benmbarek, the ambassador and general director of the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation, Mohamed Methqal, the former secretary general of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Fathallah Sijilmassi, and the managing partner of Mazars Morocco, Abdou Souleye Diop, have participated.

The INNOWWIDE project will open a new call for Viability Assesment Projects (VAPs) in the first quarter of next year, aimed at European SMEs interested in developing new  and innovative business based on technological cooperation in markets outside the European Union (EU). The second call has a budget of 4.2 million euros and will finance 70 innovative SMEs, with a flat-rate aid of 60,000 euros per VAP.

The MedaWeek Barcelona (Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders) is nowadays the iconic conference dedicated to promoting the Mediterranean region worldwide. This event endorses the key economic sectors and the cultural values of this region through a wide variety of forums.