INVESTMED held the final press conference, summarising the project’s activities and impact since its beginning in 2020. The press conference was organised by the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA) in collaboration with INVESTMED media partner, Managers, within the framework of the INVESTMED closing event. Over 10 media outlets were present at the conference with members from all 3 target countries, Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia.

The closing ceremony of the InvestMed project, held at the end of November in Tunisia, was an opportunity to highlight the progress made by the startups and incubators supported by the project.

Co-financed by the EU and implemented by Business Med and 7 other partners, the project’s primary aim is to strengthen the sustainability of MSMEs in three Mediterranean countries: Tunisia, Egypt and Lebanon. The project has awarded grants to 38 MSMEs in the green, blue and creative industries, and 3 to incubators, so that they can strengthen their financial sustainability and contribution to job creation in the local economy.

“The project offers a tailored support mechanism as well as subsidy schemes for MSMEs and support structures. The focus on creative industries is justified by their capacity to create jobs. While the green and blue economy sectors are the guarantors of sustainability,” says Zied Debbabi of BusinessMed. Maria Ruiz de Cossio, Senior Project Manager at EMEA, reported that the project has helped entrepreneurs in the region to make their projects flourish. “Thanks to the network of EMEA researchers, we were able to draw up recommendations that would be of use to all social entrepreneurs,” she insisted.