EBSOMED MAIN OBJECTIVES

EBSOMED aims at boosting the Mediterranean business ecosystem, promoting an inclusive economic development by enhancing the private sector and investments in the Southern Neighbourhood Countries, improve the overall management capacity of Mediterranean Companies and Business Support Organizations (BSOs) through enhanced services and quality standards.

ABOUT THE BUSINESS COUNTRY DESK

The Business Country Desk (BCD) is a key instrument implemented in the framework of EBSOMED in accordance with its “MED Link” action line. It:

• provides access to reliable data shaping the business climate (Trade / Investment) of Southern Mediterranean countries;
• promotes, fosters and supports synergies, and networking & B2B opportunities;
• connects economic operators in the Euro-Mediterranean region, and initiates and develops North-South and/or South-South business partnerships.

The BCD platform (www.bcdesk.eu) is available in English and French, and provides its users with three main services:

1. The Business HelpDesk (Informative section)
2. The Partnerships section (Informative section)
3. The EuroMed Business Matching tool (Operational Tool)

BACKGROUND

BUSINESSMED's cycle of actions positions entrepreneurship and investment at the core of its development strategy, and the achievement of this mission is notably reflected in the setting up of a special counter aimed at assisting and stimulating regional economic activity and creating strategic regional networks.

Hence the idea of creating the "Business Country Desk" initiative, not only a one-off action serving as a catalyst for the numerous initiatives launched around the Mediterranean, but also and above all a unique counter promoting talent, internationalisation and the improvement of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the private sector in Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa.

Today, in this Digital era, we are automating this process, with a platform offering companies and investors support for the concretisation of partnerships with high added value.

The official launch of the BCD platform was planned for February 2020 in Milan, but with the crisis caused by COVID-19, we were compelled to postpone this event. However, thanks to the digital offer and the tools at our disposal, we are adapting and starting the promotion of this platform, more useful than ever in this current situation.

In this context and in the framework of the EBSOMED project, an outreach webinar on the BCD will take place on 27 October 2020.

OBJECTIVES

• Present the platform, the purpose of its implementation and its main features
• Expose the benefits for the Private Sector and the EBSOMED project’s partners and affiliates
• Report on the needs and expectations of the members and partners of BUSINESSMED concerning the implementation of the BCD, in particular in this time of COVID-19
• Laying the groundwork for the next training webinar on how to properly use the platform