the EU bank

The FEMIP Trust Fund (FTF) was established at the end of 2004. It is conceived as a multi-donor, multi-purpose and multi-sector fund whose main objective is to support private sector development in the Mediterranean partner countries. More than four years after it was launched, the Trust Fund is fulfilling its role as a "think tank", enabling new areas to be explored in which it would be useful for FEMIP to operate.

Its operations comprise two windows:

• the Technical Assistance window;
• the Private Sector Support window, acquiring holdings in the private sector (private equity).

Participation in the Trust Fund enables donors to augment the contributions from the EU budget allocated to FEMIP under the MEDA programme.

At the end of 2008, the amounts disbursed by 15 of the Member States and the European Commission totalled EUR 34.5m.

Between 2004 and 2008, projects totalling EUR 11.7m (EUR 9.7m for studies and technical assistance operations and EUR 2m for a private equity operation) were approved by the Trust Fund’s Assembly of Donors.

Studies financed by the FEMIP Trust Fund:

• Study on improving the efficiency of workers’ remittances in Mediterranean countries
• Study on tourism in FEMIP countries (strategy, policy and proposals for sub-regional tourism development)
• Study on the economic impact of microfinance in the Mediterranean
• Study on climate change and energy in the Mediterranean
• Study on clean development mechanism (CDM) project identification in FEMIP countries
• Study on the potential for setting up logistics platforms in the Mediterranean