The European Union told leaders from southern Mediterranean countries on Tuesday that the 27-nation bloc wants to boost its investment in the region.
Leaders from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan met during the day with senior EU policy-makers and business representatives for talks to sharply increase EU investment in the southern Mediterranean.
"Despite their closeness to Europe and their promising growth, the countries of the Southern Mediterranean have attracted only one percent of EU foreign investment since 2000. We need to change that," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said when opening the talks.
The discussion focused on improving legal frameworks for investment, encouraging joint partnerships between the EU and southern Mediterranean businesses and boosting EU investment in the region, which is among the lowest in the world, the European Commission said in a press release.
The four southern Mediterranean countries are parties to the "Agadir Agreement", which was signed in 2004 to establish a free trade agreement among them.
The EU said it aims to boost regional integration and remains committed to an EU-Mediterranean free trade area by 2010.
"Although they increasingly trade with the EU, it is just as important to help the countries of the Agadir agreement to develop their trade with each other," Mandelson said.
Direct investment flows from the EU to the southern Mediterranean amounted to 4.9 billion euros (7.69 billion U.S. dollars) in 2006,accounting for around 2 percent of the EU's total direct investment abroad.
The European Commission said southern Mediterranean countries could make substantial gains from attracting new investment, especially in the service sector, which is key to their economies.
Source: Xinhua
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