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By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 16 May 2014:
The Western Mediterranean Forum 5+5 Dialogue 2014 will be held in Lisbon, Portugal on 22 May. . . .[restrict]The event is jointly presided over by Portugal and Mauritania and will include a ministerial meeting as well as the economic forum.
The Economic Business Forum will be held on 21 May. Last year the Economic Business Forum was held in Barcelona in October where Libya also participated.
The 5+5 Dialogue was launched in 1993 and includes the five southern European states of Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Malta. Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania make up the five Arab Maghreb states.
“The format has been successful” said the Portuguese ambassador to Tripoli, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa Wednesday speaking to a lunch gathering of Libyan media organized to promote the event.
“It started off as a meeting of Foreign Ministers, but being informal, it became a successful format. Now, the format has been expanded to different sectors such as agriculture, transport, communications etc”.
The Economic Forum will be addressing four topics in Lisbon this year: Water and water management; Transport and sustainable development; Inter-regional cooperation; and Infrastructure, energy and environment.
“We would like private as well as public companies to participate. The event is open to all who successfully register on line. We are ready to issue non-Schengen Portugal-only business visas to all business leaders interested in visiting Portugal within 24 hours”, stressed Pedrosa. She also revealed that a Portuguese-Libyan Business Association has already been established.
“There is a feeling that cooperation in between the North African states is still at a primary level, and it is hoped that this cooperation between these neighbours can increase”, explained the Portuguese ambassador. [/restrict]
