V MedThink 5+5 Forum in Madrid, Spain

2022-10-06T10:47:35+00:00 October 8th, 2021|

The V MedThink 5 + 5 Forum will be held in Madrid, Spain, on October 13-14, 2021 under the title “What Prospects for the 5 + 5 Dialogue in a Mediterranean in Transformation? Adapting together to the post-COVID-19 realities”.

The fifth edition of the Forum is co-organised by the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), the Union for the Mediterranean (UpM) and Casa Árabe, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and the Cooperation of the Spanish Government. HE Ms. Ángeles Moreno Bau, Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs of the Spanish Government will deliver the opening speech alongside the Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Nasser Kamel, and the Secretary General of the Union of the Arab Maghreb (UMA), Taïeb Baccouche.

In addition, more than 30 experts from the 5 + 5 Dialogue countries, representatives of think-tanks and diplomatic institutions of the 5 + 5 Dialogue Member States, will be present to discuss the major transformations likely to affect the future of the Western Mediterranean. : transformation of the production model, digital transformation and sustainable transition.

As these challenges have gradually gained in importance in the region, their relevance has been greatly enhanced as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. The pandemic has indeed revealed the extent of the failures of our socio-economic systems, underlining in return the need to move towards shorter and more integrated supply chains, a digital economy and sustainable development that make it possible to strengthen the resilience in the face of future crises. Within each of these three transformations, the event will outline avenues for reflection on the opportunities for sectoral cooperation within the framework of the 5 + 5 Dialogue, echoing the commitments for a new ambition in the Mediterranean of the Summit of the two shores of June. 2019 in Marseille, as well as the priorities reflected by the “New Agenda for the Mediterranean” drawn up by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission in February 2021.

Since its creation in May 2016, the MedThink 5 + 5 network founded by think-tanks from the Western Mediterranean has organised four annual conferences and multiple thematic seminars that have brought together experts from across the region to analyze the determinants of security and regional stability as well as economic and human development. The network organized its last forum in Malta in 2019, under the theme “Encouraging innovative alliances in the Western Mediterranean: A pool of opportunities for a sustainable future”. The MedThink 5 + 5 also organised a series of thematic seminars, the most recent of which took place in October 2021 which was devoted to the issue of transport and logistics in the Western Mediterranean.

Consult the event programme here

Read here the biographies of the speakers

Follow the two days of the Forum live on Youtube:

Wednesday 13 October

Thursday 14 October