EuroMed Trade and Investment Facilitation Mechanism
The EuroMed Trade Helpdesk has been funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC), the online portal is a free one-stop-shop for country and product-specific information on tariffs and duties, import and export procedures, and market requirements. In addition, a network of national focal points in each participating Mediterranean country will respond to enquiries on intra-regional trade issues and ensure information is kept up to date. The EuroMed Helpdesk is available in English, French, Arabic, and Turkish.
EuroMed countries form one of the least economically integrated regions in the world, with intra-regional trade representing only about 5% of total trade flows. This is partly due to a lack of availability and transparency of trade-related information. The cost of finding information about trade rules, procedures, and duties mean many small and medium-sized firms are in effect excluded from export markets or from importing. The EuroMed Trade Helpdesk seeks to boost economic integration in the region by providing businesses with the information they need in a user-friendly manner and free-of-charge.
Objectives
- Facilitate closer economic ties between the EU and South Mediterranean countries
- Enhance economic integration between these countries
- Improve trade transparency
- Provide an online portal of trade related information
Project timeline
The EuroMed Trade and Investment Facilitation Mechanism project (TIFM) enter the development phase in 2014 with Turkey joining the project in 2016. The EuroMed Trade Helpdesk portal has been launched on June 30, 2017. Users can now consult the portal for necessary trade market information and submit trade-related enquiries to the Helpdesk to receive answers directly from our network of National Focal Points in 9 beneficiary countries. For more information, you can read the related press release here.
Beneficiaries
Economic operators including exporters, importers, investors and trade support institutions along with governments within the EuroMed region.
- Algeria
- Egypt
- Israel
- Jordan
- Lebanon
- Morocco
- Turkey
- Tunisia
- Palestine
- European Union
Stakeholders
Governments, Trade Support Institutions (TSIs) and private sector institutions in EuroMed countries
Deliverables
The project will deliver an online information portal as well as coordinate a problem solving network of national institutions, responsible for responding to enquiries from economic operators, so as to facilitate trade and investment.
Sustainable impacts
The portal and problem solving network will continue beyond the project duration. ITC will coordinate this in collaboration with National Technical Focal Point institutions in EuroMed countries. Particular emphasis will be on market requirements and regulations. For technical sustainability the portal will be hosted with ITC’s Market Analysis Tools, which are freely accessible public goods, available at www.intracen.org/marketanalysis
Problem solving network
To support users of the online tool a problem solving network of focal points based in each country will be established. The network of focal points will comprise institutions nominated by partner countries and will be responsible for responding to trade related enquiries from economic operators.