Mediterranean: Spotlight on the Investmed project supporting the blue, green economy, and creative industries in Tunisia, Egypt, and Lebanon

In the challenging economic landscape of the Mediterranean region, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) face issues of sustainability, innovation, competitiveness, and internationalization. These challenges demanded new solutions for MSMEs to maintain their existence and enhance their growth.

In this context, the INVESTMED project, an initiative funded by the ENI CBC program, emerged as a strategic response to these challenges.

Focused on Egypt, Lebanon, and Tunisia, the project’s mission was clear: to support sustainable, creative, and innovative business opportunities, especially for youth and women. INVESTMED’s goals were precise and aimed to support sustainable entrepreneurship and business initiatives by creating a robust business environment and facilitating access to new markets.

The ultimate goal was to create economic opportunities and jobs for targeted demographic groups in the three countries: Tunisia, Egypt, and Lebanon.

The project revolved around four key pillars:

The project primarily aimed to enhance the sustainability of MSMEs in these three Mediterranean countries, namely Tunisia, Egypt, and Lebanon.

The project granted subsidies to 37 MSMEs in the green, blue, and creative industries and 3 to incubators to strengthen their financial sustainability and contribute to job creation in the local economy.

“In addition to training sessions and capacity building for young entrepreneurs in the three countries in sustainable business management and intellectual property rights, the project offers tailored support mechanisms and grant schemes for MSMEs and support structures. The focus on creative industries is justified by their capacity to create employment. While the green and blue economy sectors are guarantors of sustainability,” said Zied Debbabi from BusinessMed.

Maria Ruiz de Cossio, Senior Project Manager at EMEA, noted that the project helped entrepreneurs in the region thrive through a network of experts who provided recommendations that would benefit all. The work carried out by INVESTMED aims to improve access to financing for MSMEs by connecting them with financial actors and developing a step-by-step guide on crowdfunding.

Roger Albinyana, Director of the Department of Mediterranean Regional Policies and Human Development at the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), stated that the project aims to boost entrepreneurial opportunities, especially for young and women entrepreneurs, as these countries face challenges in terms of employment market pressure and funding difficulties that hinder their growth.

The project provided capacity building to selected startups through mentoring and coaching cycles conducted in partnership with the Università LUMSA to develop skills in innovation, access to international markets, sustainability management, etc.

“We selected 15 mentees to attend summer schools. Three of them were awarded the Sustainable Business Management Award,” said Flavia Vighini from Università LUMSA. Three others received special awards.

The project is led by the Union of Mediterranean Confederations of Enterprises, BUSINESSMED (TU) with diverse partners including EMEA (ES), IEMed (ES), Beyond Group / Irada Group S.A.L, BRD (LE), Institute of Entrepreneurship Development, IED (GR), Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta, LUMSA (IT), the Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations, CEEBA (EG), and finally, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, CCE (ES). The project was co-financed by the European Union under the ENI CBC MED Program.