Verso Sud: International Mediterranean Forum



The International Mediterranean Forum: "Verso Sud (Looking Southward): Europe's strategy for a new geopolitical, economic and socio-cultural season in the Mediterranean" is an international public-private platform launched in collaboration with and under the patronage of the Italian Government, with the aim of bringing together, in a single think tank, the best companies and Institutions and representatives of academy and research, in order to build, enhance and communicate a new idea of Southern Italy and the Mediterranean.

About the event

The 2024 edition started with a greater engagement of Southern and Mediterranean territories. This region is currently affected by wars, crises and tensions, with unprecedented human and socio-economic costs. Our role is supporting the elaboration of content and proposals for policies and extended collaboration, placing Italy and, in particular, the South, at the centre of this effort and continuing to promote dialogue, mutual understanding, and the possibility of creating development through cooperation. 

The project is supported by the Minister for European Affairs, the South, cohesion policies and the NRRP and FS Group, Intesa Sanpaolo, CISE - Confederazione Italiana Sviluppo Economico, Coldiretti, Edison, Adler Group, Mediocredito Centrale - Invitalia, MSC Group.

"Verso Sud" Forum

In 2024, the final event will take place on May 17-18, in Sorrento.

The participants

In 2024, the initiative will involve the countries of the Euro-Mediterranean area, including speakers and heads of national and foreign companies. It will host, among others, Italy's Minister for European Affairs, the South, Cohesion Policies and the PNRR, Raffaele Fitto, and the Minister for Civil protection and Marine Policies, Nello Musumeci, in the presence of the Advisory Board, made up of TEHA, Partner companies and institutions, and the Scientific Committee.

Among the confirmed speakers: Sager Abdulaziz (Founder and Chair, Gulf Research Center), Mohammad Al Dardsawi (Executive Director, Ministry of Investment, Jordan), Rania A. Al-Mashat (Minister of International Cooperation, Egypt), Mohamed Arkab (Minister of Energy and Mines, Algeria), Chiara Cardoletti (UNHCR Representative for Italy), Enrico Credendino (Chief of the Italian Navy), Francesco De Core (Editor-in-Chief, Il Mattino), Valerio De Molli (Managing Partner and CEO, The European House – Ambrosetti), Ali El-Moselhi (Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, Egypt), Michele Emiliano (President, Puglia Region), Raffaele Fitto (Minister for European Affairs, Southern Italy, Cohesion Policy and the NRRP, Italy), Giovanna Iannantuoni (President, CRUI-Italian Rector’s Conference), Nasser Kamel (Secretary General, Union for the Mediterranean), Saleh Kharabsheh (Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Jordan), Monica Maggioni (Head Editor of News, RAI), Francesco Minotti (CEO, Mediocreditocentrale – Invitalia), Nello Musumeci (Minister for Civil protection and Marine Policies, Italy), Roberto Occhiuto (President, Calabria Region), Alberto Orioli (Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Il Sole 24 Ore), Vesna Pusič (Professor of Sociology and Political Theory, University of Zagreb; former Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and First Deputy Prime Minister, Croatian Government), Giosy Romano (President, Italian Confederation for Economic Development – CISE), Amr Ezzat Salama (President, Association of Arab Universities), Paolo Scudieri (President, Gruppo Adler).

Scientific Committee

Francesco De Core (Director, Il Mattino; Deputy Director, Il Corriere dello Sport), Arancha González Laya (Dean, Sciences Po - Paris School for International Affairs; formerly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Spain), Patrizia Lombardi (Vice-rector, Politecnico di Torino; President, Universities for a Sustainable Development Network - RUS), Stefano Manservisi (Professor, Sciences Po - Paris School for International Affairs and EUI School of Transnational Governance; former Director General, International Cooperation and Development, European Commission), Ettore Francesco Sequi (Former Secretary General, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation).

The topics

The third edition will explore the challenges of attractiveness of Southern Italy in the Euro-Mediterranean framework, starting from:

• Proofs of Cooperation and Peace in the Mediterranean: Middle-East Horizon; Balkan Horizon; The Greatest Election Year in History: Implications for the Mediterranean Macro-region
• Demography and Humanitarian Corridors
• Food Security
• Resilience and Energy Transition: Projects and Resources for Decarbonization and Renewables 
• The Value of Human Capital and "Mediterranean Education": the Cultural Heritage of the Mediterranean
• Sea as a Resource: Maritime Security, Emerging and Adapting and Supply Chains
• Investments for Growth: Infrastructure, and Innovation and Business Netowrking
  
• Regionalism in an Euro-Mediterranean Dimension
  
• Southern Italy in the Mediterranean, the New Agenda: The Mattei Plan, Beyond Energy; The Unique Special Economic Zone; Verso Sud – Youth: Three Suggestions for the Creation of a Mediterranean Youth Community

During the event, we will present the new edition of the "White Book" of the Verso Sud project, and the updated Mediterranean Sustainable Development Index (MSDI), an innovative monitoring index for the positioning of South Italy within the Mediterranean, with regards to the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN's 2030 Agenda.