On 14 April the Secretary General of the Adriatic and Ionian Chambers of Commerce (AIC Forum), Mr Michele De Vita, and its General Manager, Mrs Luciana Frontini, met CEI Alternate Secretary General, Mr Giorgio Rosso Cicogna and the CEI Trust Fund Programme Manager, Mr Guido Paolucci, to discuss possible cooperation and joint projects.
The relationship with the AIC Forum offers the CEI the opportunity to strengthen its link with the Adriatic and Ionian basin, in the perspective of its acknowledgement as a macro-region by the EU. The AIC Forum, established in 2001, is chaired by Mrs Jadranka Radovanić, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Split, Croatia. The Forum Secretariat is hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of Ancona, Italy.
The AIC Forum, gathering 38 Chambers of Commerce belonging to the coastal region of the Adriatic and Ionian basin, aims at supporting economic development and at harmonizing administrative rules for fostering commerce and mutual exchange in the region. The Forum has developed a strong project-oriented approach and operates through working tables specifically dedicated to agriculture, environment, women entrepreneurship, fishery, tourism and transports. It has also been establishing an International Court for mediation and arbitration for disputes among SMEs.
The meeting between the CEI and the AIC Forum enabled participants to explore concrete opportunities of joint projects, in particular in the fields of transport and tourism (as an essential basis for economic development of interested areas, and SMEs growth with particular attention to women entrepreneurship), which are priorities for both parties.
The next meeting of the AIC Forum will be held in Budva on 11-13 May. An official invitation has already been sent both to the CEI Presidency and to the CEI Secretariat.
On that occasion, a first joint application for an EU project in the field of sustainable tourism is likely to be presented.
