NETWORKING IS ESSENTIAL TO A MEDITERRANEAN SYSTEM

The conclusions of the 2nd Green Med Forum in Alexandria
 

The Green Med Forum of Alexandria, Egypt (5-7 May 2009) confirmed how the concept of networking is essential to create a Mediterranean system for the fruit and vegetables sector.

 
 
 

Especially the small and medium sized growers need to operate under an “umbrella”, which is not much of protection, but rather a distributor of efficient services. Nowadays Mediterranean is just a word. There are Egyptian, Spanish, Italian and Turkish productions, indeed. There are no productions that are recognizable and identifiable as Mediterranean. The recommendations that are emerging from this Forum, then, start exactly from this point, to create concrete forms of cooperation by gathering the national producers and exporters associations and creating a network between the wholesales markets that may represent the focal hub in the fresh produce supply chain. Places for training, places for information.

Under a common Mediterranean "umbrella", single companies in different Countries may become more competitive in order to obtain more successful results in Europe and in the world. It must be an umbrella open to everybody’s cooperation and it may pass through the establishment of a big Mediterranean association that in the second session of our Forum we called Assomedmarkets, which already involves ANDMI and Rome’s Agrifood Centre. 

A brand of identification for the Mediterranean products may be needed, also considering the difficulties of its realization.

Another recommandation concerns logistics: in this field, too, it is necessary to promote a better cooperation between the private and the public sectors. A higher efficiency of the sea and land logistic systems in the Mediterranean is needed. Thanks to the integration between the public sector with private businesses.

The Green Med Forum Staff thanks all those that attended this Forum by giving their contribution, but also all those that from this Forum simply received elements to reflect upon, and operational contacts that may improve their activity. Of course we also thank the main sponsors Bank of Alexandria and Banca Intesa-SanPaolo. 

We look forward to meeting you at the Forum 2010, that will be probably held next spring in Barcelona, Spain.
 
The conclusive remarks and photo report of the second Green Med Forum are available at the following links:

SESSION 1 - INTEGRATED LOGISTICS
SESSION 2 - WHOLESALE MARKETS
SESSION 3 - QUALITY PRODUCTS

See the Conference Agenda 2009

See the  PHOTOGALLERY