Press release

16 Jun 2014

Beirut- Egypt

The Role of Small and Medium Enterprises in Promoting Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

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The League of Arab States (LAS), ESCWA, the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy (MOERE) in Egypt, and the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE) are jointly organizing, in cooperation with the European Union’s project “Mediterranean Energy Efficiency in the Construction Sector –MED-ENEC”, the Second Arab Forum for Renewable Energy (RE) and Energy Efficiency (EE) entitled “Enhancing the Role of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Promoting RE & EE” on 18-19 June 2014 in El Gouna Movenpick Hotel, Egypt. The two-day Forum kicks off on Wednesday 18 June at 10:00 AM and discusses the following topics: the role of SMEs in the energy transition in the Arab region through national activities and regional cooperation; the challenges facing SMEs in playing a key role in RE and EE activities in the Arab region particularly in rural areas, including job creation prospects and R&D contributions to developing appropriate green technologies; the policies to create an enabling environment to activate the role of SMEs in spreading RE and EE for sustainable development in the Arab region, in terms of relevant legislations, institutional frameworks and financing schemes; and the cost of investment in large scale RE projects for electricity generation versus small scale projects. The Forum aims at addressing the role that SMEs can play in advancing the RE and EE fields in the Arab region, in addition to the financial, legal and institutional mechanisms needed to instigate and reinforce this role. This second Forum on RE and EE comes as a follow up for the outcomes of the first Forum held in Cairo in April 2012 on “Building Financial Partnerships”, which recognized the importance of involving the private sector, including financial institutions, in implementing national RE and EE actions plans ESCWA is one of the five UN regional commissions. It provides a framework for the formulation and harmonization of sectoral policies for member countries; a platform for congress and coordination; a home for expertise and knowledge, and an information observatory. ESCWA aims at supporting economic and social cooperation between the region’s countries and promoting development process in order to achieve regional integration. Libya, the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Tunisia became members of ESCWA in September 2012. By this new membership, the number of ESCWA countries rose to 17, including: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, The Sudan, The Syrian Arab Republic, The United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
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