Meda Finance's 2014 conference will provide private sector businesses in the Mediterranean region a total of $22m in the form of grants, credit lines and technical assistance, a Tuesday statement from the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC) said. The third Euro-Mediterranean Conference and Exhibition on Donor Funding, Banking and Novel Funding Instruments will be held on 9 and 10 February in Cairo, under the auspices of interim Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi. Head of FEDCOC Ahmed El-Wakil said that this event comes as one of the programmes of the federation intended to increase awareness of the available opportunities for the private sector. El-Wakil added that this conference will collect major donors and development agencies such as the European Union, World Bank, European Investment Bank (EIB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and African Development Bank (AfDB) in addition to other organisations. President of the Federation of Egyptian Industries Mohamed El Sewedy described the conference as a "communication channel" through which entrepreneurs in the Mediterranean region can make use of its available grants and funding instruments by discussing their details and conditions. Access to funding stands as a major obstacle for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and new investment, El Sewedy said, noting that using the funding opportunities of donor agencies is one of the solutions to this dilemma. The conference will be attended by the ministers of International Cooperation, Industry and Foreign Trade, and Investment and Planning. Speakers at the event include the vice chairman of EIB and heads of participating business councils. According to the statement, the first session of the conference will discuss non-banking financing mechanisms such as financial leases and venture capital funds as well as other mechanisms that have succeeded in pushing growth upwards in developing countries. The second session will tackle concessional loans provided by banks and international funding agencies, and the third and final session will showcase the grants and technical assistance available.
