The forum, to be themed "for a Maghreb company", will be marked by the participation of about 1,000 businessmen from the Arab Maghreb Union, said the President of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), Hedi Jilani, at a press briefing.

Morocco will be represented by 200 businessmen from the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), in addition to ministers and officials from the departments of trade, industry, customs and transport.

To be organized at the initiative of the Maghreb Union of Employers "MUE", in collaboration with the UTICA and the Lebanese group Al Iktissad Wal Aamal, the forum aims to strengthen economic complementariness between the countries of the region.

This meeting will be an opportunity for these businessmen to discuss investment issues, establish contact among them and consider joint ventures, underlined organisers.

They can also reflect on the ways to develop and promote Maghreb companies in order to be able to cope with foreign competition, and overcome the obstacles that hinder the achievement of a genuine complementariness across the region.

The program of this forum includes work sessions to discuss the effects of international economic crisis on the economies of the region and ways to develop trade between these economies.

There will also be presentations by European and Arab experts on the experience of the European Union (EU) in terms economic integration.

The first forum was held on May 10-11, 2009 in Algiers. Participants criticised the region's closed-border policy, stressing that costs the Maghreb countries about 2 percentage points of the gross domestic product.

They also agreed that the Maghreb has no other choice but to work for the realisation of the “greater market” of the Maghreb region, which is a geographical area with over 100 million consumers.

In fact, up to now, trade between the countries of the region is still below the level aspired for. The experts from the Maghreb Union of employers estimate that it does not exceed 2.9%.