The Euro-Mediterranean Network for Economic Studies EMNES Annual Conference 2021: “Pillars for Inclusive, Sustainable and Resilient Growth and Innovative Socio-Economic Models Post COVID-19 Pandemic in the Mediterranean and Africa” took place online on Zoom, on 09 and 10 December 2021.
The Conference included EMNES Researchers, EMNES Fellows, Associate Committee and Advisory Committee members, international economists, policy experts and policy makers. The EMNES Annual Conference 2021 was broadcasted live on Facebook with great success, achieving 12,000 video views and an event reach of 35,500 people.
COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the level of unpreparedness of governments in both developed and less developed countries. This health crisis was quickly transformed into an unprecedented economic and social crisis at the global level and has led governments to introduce unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus packages. The EMEA-EMNES research published in 2020-21, shows that countries exhibiting socio-economic vulnerabilities prior to the COVID-19 pandemic had lower capacity to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
Against this background, the EMNES Annual Conference 2021 offered to leading academics, practitioners and policymakers the opportunity to discuss innovative research on a range of topics related to the post- COVID-19 pandemic recovery.
The conference opened with an introduction by Prof. Rym Ayadi, President Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA) and Director, Euro-Mediterranean Network for Economic Studies (EMNES), and a welcoming address by H.E. Dr. Hala el Said, Minister of Planning and Administrative Reforms, Egypt.
The keynote speech of the Conference “New Approaches to Economic Challenges” was delivered by Dr. William Hynes, Senior Advisor to the OECD Secretary General and Head of OECD-NAEC.
During thew conference 14 working papers were presented and discussed in 4 Academic Sessions. The Conference included a high-level policy session on “Green Transition in the Mediterranean and Africa: What opportunities and challenges post Glasgow Climate Pact?” The speakers of the session were:
- Connel Fullenkamp, Director of Undergraduate Studies and Professor of the Practice in economics at Duke University
- Cynthia Echave, Project Coordinator – Senior Researcher Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association
- Nathalie Hilmi, Head Environmental Economics at Centre Scientifique de Monaco
- Fatuma Hussein, Programme Manager at Power Shift Africa
The policy session was moderated by Cinzia Alcidi, Director of Research, Head of the Economic Policy Unit at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
The EMNES Annual Conference 2021 concluded with the announcement of the three (3) winners of the EMNES Call for Paper Awards 2021 by Prof. Rym Ayadi:
- “Human development and decentralization: The importance of public health expenditure”, co-authored by Ronald Miranda-Lescano (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain), Leonel Muinelo-Gallo Universidad de la República) and Oriol Roca-Sagalés (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
- “Capital Development under Collateral Constraints, The Impact of Investment Subsidies under Non-Homothetic Preferences between Capital and Labour”, authored by Rebecca Maria Mari (London School of Economics, United Kingdom)
- “The role of cooperatives in enhancing social and economic inclusion: determinants of turnover growth and survival”, co-authored by Najat El Mekkaoui (Université Paris- Dauphine PSL, LEDa DIAL IRD, Paris, France, EMNES and ERF), Sara Loukili (Université Paris-Dauphine PSL, LEDa DIAL IRD, EMNES, Morocco)
The awarded papers will receive 2,000 of research budget in order to continue their research under these topics. The award is funded by the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association – EMEA.
The videos and the program are available at the Conference website: https://conference2021.emnes.org/
