The President of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), Chakib Alj, was elected Secretary General and member of the Executive Bureau of the Alliance des Patronats Francophones (APF), whose official ceremony of signing the agreement establishing was organized on Tuesday in Tunis.
The CGEM was represented at this ceremony by its vice-president, Mehdi Tazi, who proceeded with the Presidents of the employers’ associations of 25 countries, to the official signature of the statutes creating this alliance.
The APF, whose presidency has been entrusted for a two-year term to the Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF), aims to accelerate the flow of business between private companies.
The 1st official meeting of the Alliance also made it possible to launch seven thematic working groups, including the one entitled “Facilitation of investments and co-investments”, co-chaired by the CGEM and the Groupement des Entreprises de Madagascar.
Presiding over this ceremony, the Head of the Tunisian government, Najla Bouden underlined “the relevance of the approach aimed at giving substance to a more active economic Francophonie, the outlines of which were sketched out during the last meeting of French-speaking entrepreneurs in Paris in August 2021. “.
And to add that this new framework of economic partnership “is all the more necessary as our French-speaking area in the north and in the south faces major challenges which require more convergence and solidarity against a backdrop of health crisis and conflict. in Ukraine and their socio-economic ramifications”.
She indicated that “in the face of this unprecedented situation, the alliance of French-speaking employers is of particular importance since it offers an appropriate platform for forging together innovative and ambitious approaches with a view to intensifying our economic exchanges and exploiting all the economic potential , of which our French-speaking space conceals”.
“In addition to the common cultural and linguistic base, our space represents a market of more than 500 million people and contributes 16% of the world’s GDP with an average annual growth of 7%”, recalled Najla Bouden.
For his part, the president of MEDEF, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, affirmed that seven months after the first meeting in Paris of French-speaking entrepreneurs, “one could say that our promises are beginning to materialize with the signing of the Tunis agreement”. .
He described the creation of this alliance as “a real feat in the current health and international context”.
“It’s historic because never before have the private sectors of French-speaking countries come together with so much desire to create together the tools of a Francophonie for businesses”, he rejoiced.
For his part, the president of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), Samir Majoul affirmed that this alliance “was born in the midst of the destabilization of the world, due to a succession and superimposition of crises”.
“In this unstable world, our role is to help rebalance it, for the good of our countries, our peoples, our economies, our businesses, peace, the climate and future generations,” he said. he adds.
He specified that the French-speaking space has all the potential to become an opportunity for its inhabitants and the rest of the world.
According to him, this space represents 20% of world trade, 16% of world GDP, 14% of energy and mining reserves and includes financial centers of 1st importance and is endowed with business law having a common basis in addition to dynamic demography. , young and very well trained and companies evolving in all sectors of economic activity, innovative, competitive, with many world leaders.
This alliance, bringing together a total of 31 employers, reflects the resolution to build a concrete economic Francophonie around businesses.
The alliance, whose next meeting is scheduled for Abidjan next October, will have a permanent organization and will have the task of accelerating the flow of business between French-speaking companies, coordinating the French-speaking action of the most representative of each of the member countries, to establish shared diagnoses and to be a source of proposals.
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