Report: EMNES Virtual Annual Conference 2020

The Euro-Mediterranean Network for Economic Studies (EMNES) Virtual Annual Conference 2020: “What Pillars for Resilience of the Socio-Economic Models Post COVID-19 Pandemic in the Mediterranean?” took place online on Zoom, on the 17th and 18th December 2020. The conference was broadcasted live on Facebook with great success, as over 2,500 persons watched the broadcast and the related posts of the conference reached over 16,000 people. The first day of the Conference, 17 December, started with the Keynote Speech “The socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 and paths to recovery in Europe” by Daniel Gros, Distinguished Fellow and Member of the Board, Centre for European Policy Studies – CEPS, who highlighted 3 factors of resilience: “Efficient administration, Political responsibility and Debt Sustainability”. The Policy session: Labour Markets, Future of Work and Education Post COVID-19 was moderated by Cinzia Alcidi, Director of Research, Centre for European Policy Studies. She introduced the topics that would be discussed underlining the importance of exploring digital and technological changes, accelerated by the pandemic. Keynote speaker of the second day, 17 December, was H.E. Hala El Said, Minister of Planning and Administrative Reforms, Egypt. At her intervention regarding the “Pillars of Resilience Post COVID-19 Pandemic in the Mediterranean” she mentioned the importance of factors of resilience especially during a crisis: “Find the appropriate policy balance, regular communication with the citizens and localisation”. The EMNES Virtual Annual Conference 2020 was moderated by Prof. Rym Ayadi, President, Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA) and Director, Euro-Mediterranean Network for Economic Studies (EMNES). Closing the Conference Prof. Ayadi underlined that “EMNES will continue its research to explore and to analyse resilience factors of the socio-economic development models and to provide policy recommendations for the Mediterranean and Africa” Conference website: https://conference2020.emnes.org/ Download