Two significant trade agreements were signed recently – both are good news for openness, multilateralism and trade.

The first, EU-Mercosur, will open the way for trade on goods and services between the EU and the Mercosur trade bloc, which comprises Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

The EU is the biggest foreign investor in Mercosur countries, with an investment value of 381 billion euros in 2017…

Looking forward to speaking about mutual economic growth in the Euro and Arab Med region alongside May Chidiac tomorrow at the International Arab Banking Summit in Rome.

Follow the updates on Twitter @UABonline.

How is it that Cyprus, a Mediterranean country full of citrus groves, imports lemons from Argentina? The fact is, there are fundamental flaws in the way we grow citrus, and how we trade it, en route to our kitchens…

Click here to read some of the points I will raise in my speech on Euro-Arab economic growth, along with ideas on how to improve intra-regional collaboration and trade, at the upcoming International Arab Banking Summit to be held in Rome on 25 June. 

The Mediterranean Women Mediators Network (MWMN), which has recently been launched across the region as an Italian initiative with support from the UN, speaks volumes about the need to engage women around the world in conflict-ridden societies – to mediate, negotiate and witness the implementation of peace…

From Yemen to Syria and Libya, from the Med to Latin America, it seems the Cold War paradigm is playing out once more. But now the way is also open for ‘odd alliances’ that have not existed in the past but which threaten to shape the present…

I took part in three conversations in three countries in three different sectors last week – all of them about data and governance.

In Beirut, at a meeting with the Union of Arab Banks, we discussed how perspectives on the dynamics of the Arab region could change if misconceptions were to be remedied with quality data…

I am writing this blog while the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s flagship Ibrahim Governance Weekend is taking place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

This annual event convenes prominent African political and business leaders plus representatives from civil society and institutions, as well as Africa’s major international partners, to debate issues of critical importance to the continent. The focus for 2019 is youth, mobility and African migration…

It’s a fact that we still live in a male-dominated world. As proof, a World Bank Report found that of 187 countries examined, only six have equal rights for women and men…

I constantly find myself in the position of having to explain why principles of integrity should guide performance and define reputation. So I was interested to read Sarah Gordon’s account of covering the City for 20 years in the Financial Times…

Walking through the Pompidou Centre in Paris recently, surrounded by the abundance of creativity that defines artistic expression, deploying all sorts of techniques and materials, a thought struck me: the immediacy of the relationship between the artist and the public…

In advanced economies education for boys and girls is considered a given. But it is not the case in front line markets or in developing economies…

As southern EU country leaders are about to meet in Cyprus this coming Monday January 29, 2019, they should better discuss why we still have girls out of school. Greece has the highest percentage of girls out of school, followed by Cyprus.

Lebanon, like many countries in the Med, have in-built resilience in their cultural DNA. Lebanon is also an entrepreneurial nation with a large active and enlightened diaspora. With the war in Syria, Lebanon has been incurring significant inflows of refugees hosted over the last 8 years in its cities and rural communities. Recent data analysis show Lebanon’s almost flat economic growth rate and a creeping unemployment rate. Women and girls are a most important socio-economic component to ensure growth, stability and peace.

It has been more than 5 years since I founded the Mediterranean Growth Initiative, boldly advocating the merits of the Mediterranena as an economic space in global trade and delivering real-time date analysis to support policy thinking and doing in the region. At the start ofthis year, we are launching new work, focusing on a series of infographics and data driven analysis on education and gender across the Mediterranean region - starting with Morocco.

Our collaboration agreement with the CMI is testament to shared vision, validated methodology and sense of purpose. It speaks to the need for informed policy making, but equally important the need for governments and multilateral institutions to benchmark impact of policy on citizenry, having the tools to improve and align policy with real time information. Read more in my 2019 MGI.online founder's message above.

Wishing you all a very happy new year,

Cleopatra

Energy at the core of UK and North Africa trade. As part of our Brexit series, the UK is to take note of its dependence on North Africa and the Med as important energy sources.

Ties and Trade Flows. Brexit and the Med. Another fact based snapshot of our mgi.online Brexit series: Cyprus and Israel at the heart of imports from the UK.

This blogpost is shared as part of a series of insights from INSEAD Directors Network, based on roundtable discussions held during INSEAD Directors Forum October 2018. The Directors Forum Round Table Discussions were held with IDN members led by IDN board members or IDN Ambassadors.

The roundtable discussion was led by Cleopatra Kitti, IDN Ambassador Cyprus.

The Mediterranean Growth Initiative and the Center for Mediterranean Integration announce their partnership - fostering cooperation amongst the countries of the Mediterranean.

From all the Med countries, Israel tops exports to the UK.