“A trade and investment platform to stimulate the Lebanese economic recovery”
The President of BUSINESSMED and Vice President for Internationalization of Confindustria, Mrs. Barbara Beltrame Giacomello, opened the webinar“ The BCD, a trade and investment mechanism to stimulate regional economic recovery” with the participation of representatives from the European Union, members and partners of the organisation. The event aimed to present the BUSINESS Country Desk (BCD) a new digital tool developed by BUSINESSMED with the purpose of providing the Euro-Mediterranean business ecosystem with an accessible platform that would grant technical and human support for the companies, entrepreneurs and investors in the Euro-med region.
“I am extremely proud to introduce this new tool that will continue to put entrepreneurship and investment at the heart of BUSINESSMED’s strategy… we believe that the Business Country Desk platform will become a strong reference tool for Small and medium-sized enterprises and Investors seeking new business opportunities in the Mediterranean Region. Through this tool, we will continue to foster multilateral cooperation and strengthen economic ties among Euro-Mediterranean companies and countries…” declared the president of BUSINESSMED during her opening speech.
The interventions of the other panellists focused on presenting the distinct steps that led to the design and conception of the platform, the purpose of its implementation and its major functions in order to expose the different advantages it offers for the Mediterranean business ecosystem.
Two years after the serious economic crisis that Lebanon is going through and which has been further aggravated after the explosion of the port of Beirut, the Lebanese economy needs to completely rethink itself. The Lebanese SMEs can find in the solutions offered by the BCD an exceptional tool to renew their offer of services and to have new commercial approach especially with all the restrictions imposed by the COVID crisis. The digitalization, presented since a few years as one of the solutions to get out of the crisis seems nowadays as inevitable.
Mr Tarek Tawfik, Vice-President of BUSINESSMED and Vice-Chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Industries stated: “…We need a platform like BCD to stimulate the economy in the Euro-Mediterranean region. Over the last years, digitization has been one of the main trends, especially in financial services; the complexity of Egypt’s economy is linked to diversification, as it is one of the few economies in the region not relying on the oil and gas sector. Examples of platforms such as “Alibaba“, which has supported the economies of countries such as China could be a good example to follow and to get inspiration from. The concept of global value chains on a geographic basis are diminishing in most of the sectors… “.
Talking about the development of the BCD Mrs Jihen Boutiba , General Secretory of BUSINESSMED stated: “…We came up with the idea of the BCD many years ago, and now the concept has been digitized to fit the needs of the current situation. Work on this platform started three years ago; we already knew before the COVID crises that digitization is the future of business and that this platform will be a privileged space to promote Mediterranean talent in the region. “
BUSINESSMED through the Business Country Desk Platform will provide free digital services to SMEs via three main services: Partnerships, Business Helpdesk and the Matching tool. These three functions will enable SMEs and investors access potential markets, trade for good and services in an easily way. With the different features that it offers, the BCD aims to become the go-to digital referencing tool to position and anchor the excellence of the Mediterranean economy in the global scenario.
The platform is currently in the testing phase, but some functionalities are already available to the public. Companies and Business support organizations can already start setting up their accounts and looking for potential partners through the link: www.bcdesk.eu. Several tutorial videos will be available to help the visitors navigates through the different features. The official launch of the platform and the finalization of all services will take place on the side-lines of an international event later this year.
The Business Country Desk (BCD), is a regional initiative designed by BUSINESSMED, implemented within the framework of the EBSOMED project and co-funded by the European Union.
(BUSINESSMED)
