Euromed Trade Helpdesk - Trade And Investment Facilitation Mechanism (TIFM) Phase II

Brief Description

The project will contribute to greater regional integration through enhanced and better informed trade and investment policy-making processes in Southern Neighbourhood countries. It will achieve this by expanding the scope of the Euromed Trade Helpdesk - Trade and Investment Facilitation Mechanism (TIFM), an on-line one-stop portal, which was developed and implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC) in an initial phase (2014-2017) to cover services and investment.

Countries covered: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine  and Tunisia

Objectives

• Facilitate closer economic ties between the EU and South Mediterranean countries and enhance regional economic integration between these countries;
• Improve trade and investment transparency by providing free access to information for economic operators and policy makers to a state of the art online portal to facilitate trade in goods and services and investment.

Actions in brief

• Enhance the Euromed Trade Helpdesk to include investment, rules of origin, WTO notifications, export potential assessment tool, trade procedures guides, and trade in services.
• Improve understanding of regulatory and procedural trade obstacles faced by SMEs in the region and identification of options to reduce costs of trade in goods and in services.
• Strengthen market analysis and raise awareness on the use of the Euromed Trade Helpdesk by policy makers and the private sector.