Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The Global Gateway Forum, organized by the European Commission, will begin today, Wednesday, in Brussels, over two days, and will bring together representatives of European Union governments and from all over the world with the private sector, civil society, leading thinkers, financial institutions, and international organizations to discuss issues related to global investment in infrastructure, including: This includes the challenges faced by the public and private sectors, best practices and lessons learned. The focus will be on topics:
Green energy transformation and green hydrogen
Education and research
Critical raw materials
Transport corridors
Manufacture of health products
Digital infrastructure
It will also provide a platform to showcase the implementation of the G7 Global Infrastructure and Investment Partnership.
Yesterday, on the eve of the Global Gateway Forum, European Commission President von der Leyen and Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani launched a new Team Europe initiative, as part of the European Union’s positive Global Gateway offer to support investment in the energy transition and decarbonization of the Mauritanian economy, through the development of green hydrogen industries. .
Launching the Team Europe initiative, President von der Leyen said: “With its sun and wind, Mauritania has huge renewable energy potential. The EU's ambition to develop as a green hydrogen hub is fully shared. The Global Portal provides a framework for partnerships in strategic sectors such as green energy. This is how Team Europe will contribute to Mauritania's green transformation, simultaneously creating new opportunities for its people and companies.
Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani added: “The large-scale development of green hydrogen could serve as an acceleration of green economic growth in Africa and Europe. “It deserves to be at the heart of the Global Gateway Initiative.”
Team Europe initiative
   The new Team Europe initiative, supported by the European Commission, France, Germany, Spain and the European Investment Bank on behalf of Team Europe, aims to:
- Supporting the development of the necessary infrastructure in Mauritania to allow the production, transmission and marketing of green energy.
- Promoting the creation of decent job opportunities, especially for youth, supporting the private sector and strengthening the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
- Contributing to skills development through technical and vocational training, to provide the skilled labor needed by the hydrogen industry and the sub-sectors associated with its development.
- Strengthening the legal and financial framework, and improving the business climate to create a favorable investment environment for the development of hydrogen exploitation.
This new Team Europe initiative will mobilize significant additional investments, which will be further materialized in the coming months.
Complementing this initiative, the EU has also signed new cooperation measures in 2023, including:
€13.7 million to promote sustainable food systems and access to high-quality, affordable food by strengthening value chains and economic operators.
€10 million to strengthen the blue economy in Mauritania, in particular environmentally friendly fishing systems and strengthening the fisheries value chain. It will also participate in financing the construction of marine infrastructure and maximizing synergies with the EU-Mauritania Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement.
The European Union and Mauritania share many common interests, ranging from the green transition to regional stability and orderly migration. Current EU-Mauritania cooperation includes three objectives: human development, transition to a green and blue economy and governance (to strengthen public finance and administrative reforms), supported by €578 million from the EU between 2021-2024.
In Mauritania, Global Gateway is already making significant investments in the green and blue economy, as well as in digitalisation, by supporting the transformation of the national electricity industry towards international standards, and the development of small-scale fishing to improve value chains and fish conservation. Stock, connect and manage data with a second Internet cable and data center.
The Global Gateway Forum brings together for the first time a group of government representatives from the European Union and around the world, along with key stakeholders from the private sector, civil society, thought leaders, financial institutions and international organizations to promote global investment in transformative transformation. Infrastructure – hard and soft – to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, sustainable growth and resilience around the world.
The Global Gateway is the EU's positive offer to reduce the investment gap worldwide, promote smart, clean and secure communications in the digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems.
The Global Gateway Strategy embodies the Team Europe approach that brings together the European Union, EU Member States and European development finance institutions. Together, the program aims to mobilize up to €300 billion in public and private investments from 2021 to 2027, creating essential linkages rather than dependencies, and closing the global investment gap.