• 2007
• 2006
• 2005
• 2004
• 2003
• 2002
• 2001
• 2000
• Earlier

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> Conferences 2007

ITALIA INDIA
what is in store for the future of the Indo-Italian relations?
(Turin, 22 January 2007)

It is nowadays more and more evident that we are assisting to a real shift of the geopolitical and economic balance from West to East. Will the 21st century be Asia's century? The Economist has recently emphasized once more the role of Asian countries as future leading countries in the international settings. International community, particularly the European one, observes this phenomena with a mixture of concern and interest, especially in relation to the ‘economic miracles’ of India and China, the two emerging regional powers.
Concerning India macroeconomic situation, the figures are promising. Economic growth is impressive. The country grew by 6.9% in 2005 and by 8 % in 2006, forecasts foresee a growth of 7% in 2007 and an annual average increase of 10% between 2007 and 2009. On the basis of the projected pace of growth, the country will reach current EU average GDP in purchasing power parity terms by no later than 2012. Inflation and trade deficit are stable and sustainable; public deficit is close to the Maastricht parameters; unemployment rate is decreasing.
India’s status in the world is conditioned by its stable democratic political system, possession of a nuclear deterrent, rising economic role, large middle-class population and military influence in South Asia. Its foreign policy strategy is driven by economic interests, energy and geopolitics, hence by the aspiration of becoming a great power (like Russia, China, Japan and the EU) and contributing to the build a multipolar system of international relations. The country’s ambition to play a greater role in the international arena is evident also when considering its objective to attain a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
Our policy-oriented paper aims to highlight the challenges of the Italy-India (and more in general EU-India) relations and to suggest measures in order to allow both countries to benefit more from an active cooperation. In our report we intend, first of all, to provide some insights on the Indian society, starting from some common misperceptions in our country (chapter 1); the geopolitical, socio-political and economic aspects of the Indian system and its challenges (chapter 2); the main characteristics of the EU-India relations (chapter 3); the political, economic and cultural aspects of the Indo-Italian relations (chapter 4). Finally, some policy recommendations will be offered in order to foster dialogue and cooperation between the two countries.
Is our initiative an unrealistic one considering that many Indian experts agree about the impossibility of portraying the present situation in India in a unique way? Indeed, pluralism is a reality that emerged from the nature, geography and history of this country. In fact it seems to make more sense speak of India in plural. According to Shashi Tharoor for example the political life of the country has been like its traditional music: “the broad basic rules are firmly set, but within them one is free to improvise, unshackled by a written score”. In any case, we will accept the challenge.

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> Conferences 2006

Infrastructure connections to facilitate market integration in the Mediterranean

L’iniziativa della Regione Siciliana si situa
nell’ambito della preparazione della Conferenza Internazionale sul Partenariato Mediterraneo, il cui principale obiettivo è la identificazione di strategie, reti, modalità di interconnessione materiale e immateriale, azioni e progetti pilota di partenariato interregionale e territoriale per sostenere lo sviluppo socio-economico del Mediterraneo, nella prospettiva delle politiche europee di vicinato, di allargamento e di coesione.
La metodologia di individuazione dei progetti dovrà fare riferimento agli aspetti istituzionali e funzionali della natura partenariale delle proposte di intervento sulle strutture socio-economiche del territorio transfrontaliero mediterraneo.

La preparazione delle azioni da intraprendere prenderà preliminarmente in considera-zione i seguenti aspetti generali riferiti alla integrazione socio-economica transfrontaliera:

• la dimensione territoriale transfrontaliera nella specifica condizione della frontiera marittima mediterranea;
• l’identificazione di aree interregionali transfrontaliere, potenzialmente privilegiate per la promozione e la prima sperimentazione di progetti partenariali;
• le condizioni determinate dalle interconnessioni e dalle reti transmediterranee infrastrutturali (trasporti, energia, informazioni, conoscenze);
• le condizioni di finanziamento dei progetti pilota, strumenti, canali e risorse (co-munitarie, BEI, Istituzioni internazionali, credito e altro).

La Conferenza “Interconnessioni infrastrutturali, materiali ed immateriali, in funzione di facilitazione dei rapporti per l’integrazione dei mercati nel Mediterraneo” è stata organizzata a Palermo il 10 e 11 febbraio 2006.

See the website of the Conference (in Italian)

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> Conferences 2005

In conclusion of “2005 International Year on Microcredit”, IPALMO, International Institute, one of the most active organization in Italy promoting Cooperation and Development topics, fostered in Rome the Euro Mediterranean Conference on Microcredit on 5 and 6 December. The Conference organized by IPALMO on behalf of the Italian National Commettee on Microcredit, with as chairman the Minister for Public Function, Mario Baccini and with the active support of the Minister of Foreign Affairs it will be the most important event realized in Italy in 2005.The Conference will enjoy the participation of National and International authority, the most part of them coming from European and Mediterranean Countries, expertise and people working in the academic world, entrepreneurial world and NGOs. The opening day will enjoy the introduction of European and National authorities` interventions. Between them we remember the presence of the President of the National Commettee Mario Baccini, the President of the European Parlament Joseph Borrel, the Minister of Small and Middling Enterprises of Senegal Maimouna Sourang Ndir, the European Officer Franco Frattini and the President of Lombardia Regional Council Roberto Formigoni and of Lazio Regional Council Piero Marrazzo. The following session, coordinated by the President of IPALMO Gianni De Michelis will face some of the key themes linked with Microfinance and they will be introduced by National and International expertise becoming starting point for a deepening that will follow that afternoon with workshop activities.
The Conference will be articulated in six workshops items that will face in a multilateral way the most important aspects of Microcredit: financial inclusion and Microcredit, women as the principal actors of Microfinance, connection between Microcredit and local urban and agricultural development, Microcredit as the instrument for young generation, Microfinance for Cooperation. The second day will focus on links between Microcredit and territory items, bringing in the debate, through the projection of filmed sequence, experiences report and the best practices carried out by the Italian Cooperation, Local Institutions, NGOs and Private Financial Institutes. From the ground emerged during the debate session and workshop activities we will mark the guide lines to write the Final Declaration of the Conference that wants to delineate the objectives and the priorities for the intervention on Microcredit that our Country can realize during the next years. All the activities will be concluded by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Gianfranco Fini.

Download the agenda

New financing mechanisms for Africa’s development
Turin, 7 December 2005

One of the main challenges for developing countries is to strike the right balance between the potential contributions coming from different financial flows, in order to guarantee a sustainable financing of their development processes, and the capacity of their governments to pursue the public interest trough sound oriented development policies. The aim of the Conference is to create the opportunity for a discussion among experts and policy makers on how this challenge can be achieved and the development financing can be strengthened, giving a glance especially at those countries located in the Africa Continent. In fact, while most of the developing world has experienced in the last decade a more or less rapid economic growth, Africa has lagged behind, in that it has been the only continent where GDP per capita has declined and where nearly half of its population still lives with less than $1 a day.
The Conference intends to deal with four different areas of analysis, all of them related to the need of providing and supporting Africa with financial resources on a larger scale than in the past. The four areas are: micro finance, debt relief, globalization and development cooperation. Although all of these tools are important in determining a possible financial source for the socio-economic development of these countries, none of them can in itself represents the unique solution to overcome the obstacles facing Africa, whether caused by conflict, indebtedness, weak governance or poverty. Nor we can aspect that the resources required can come only from Africa. What can be interesting, on the contrary, and in someway innovative, is trying to look at the different sources of financial flows as alternative but complementary approaches to development financing.
The development goals differ from country to country and, within each country, from sector to sector. Hence, although the financial resources aimed at overcoming the difficulties faced by developing economies will come from different sources, all of them should be placed in a comprehensive view of the development process, while each of them should focus at addressing a very specific group of problems. In this sense, the reduction of the debt burden, especially after the revolution of the poverty-related conditionality, is a powerful way to relax public budget constraints and to gather resources necessary for education investment or other poverty alleviation policies; the micro finance development is a very useful tool for helping informal activities to grow up into more efficient and productive activities, with positive effects in terms of employment creation and grassroots participation; the realization of a more favorable climate for the development of private activities can increase the capacity of a country to attract FDI from developed economies, in so overcoming most financing barriers; finally, a more effective development cooperation policy, which should be coordinated both at the international and at the national levels, can have positive results in terms of project selection, financing infrastructure investment, monitoring the attainment of the development goals.
The Conference will address the four themes in a comprehensive manner, in order to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each of them, the linkages that exist between different tools, the gains deriving from undertaking all financing activities in a coordinated fashion, and the challenges of establishing an integrated system of financing for development.

Download the agenda

Download the background document realized by IPALMO

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> Conferences 2004

A stabilization hypothesis for western Balkans in the view of European accession?
(Rome)

Italian Initiative on the Greater Middle East
(Rome, May 2004)

The external debt problem of poor countries: which policies for post relief?
(Rome)

The culture of communication networks: creating a Mediterranean understanding

Meeting with H.E. Pervez Musharraf

Perspectives of stability and pacification in the Middle East
(Rome, November 2004)

Water as a Global Public Good
(Turin, Novembre 2004)

The Challenger of European Neighbourhood Policy
(Rome, Novembre 2004)

The new Uzbek bicameral system

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> Conferences 2003

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> Conferences 2002

The Problem of Foreign Debt of Poor Countries: what policies for post debt relief?

MEDA-Democracy Project: "The press and human rights: a Euro-Mediterranean network for information sector operators"
(October - Tunisi)

Mexico Conference
(in collaboration with CeSPI and Iceps)

Parliamentarian's Day
(June - Rome)

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> Conferences 2001

The Challenges of Global Governance and the Role of the G8
(Florence, April 2001)

On 2-3 April 2001, in the prestigious Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, four institutes (IPALMO, IAI, CeSPI, ICEPS) coordinated an international conference entitled The Challenges of Global Governance and the Role of the G8, held in view of the upcoming G8 Summit in Genoa in July 2001. The conference was organized under the auspices of the Genoa Non-Governmental Initiative, created by the G8 Italian Presidency to allow the voices of international NGOs to be heard at the Summit in July. On the first day, speakers from major international organizations, the Italian government, and representative NGOs spoke about issues ranging from the WTO and the role of NGOs, to trade policy towards developing countries, to enhancing debt relief. In the afternoon, four workshops were held on the following themes: Poverty Reduction Strategies (CeSPI), Finance for Development and Debt Relief (ICEPS), International Governance and WTO Reform (IAI), and the Environment and Sustainable Development (IPALMO). Each institute was responsible for coordinating their respective workshop and eliciting recommendations regarding the workshop's particular theme. On the second day of the conference, a representative from each workshop reported on the group's results and summarized its recommendations for the G8. Following the four reports, the floor was occupied by representatives from the ILO, the World Bank and various Italian NGOs who covered a variety of relevant and polemic issues regarding the G8 and international development. The conference was closed by Massimo D'Alema and Giuliano Amato who spoke about the negative and positive effects of globalization and what needs to be done today to mitigate or enhance them. For further information about the Genoa Non-Governmental Initiative, please visit the official GNG site: www.gnginitiative.net.

MEDA-Democracy Project: "The press and human rights: a Euro-Mediterranean network for information sector operators"
(Napoli, 30 marzo-4 aprile 2001
Roma, 5-6 aprile 2001)

IPALMO, in collaboration with the Oriental University Insitute of Naples, organized the First Training course for Journalists in the Northern and Southern Mediterranean countries, under the auspices of the Med-Democracy Program financed by the European Commission. The main objective of the initiative was to form an Euro-Mediterranean netowrk for information sector operators on the issue of human rights and freedom of the press; the encouraging of dialogue and mutual understanding by means of knowledge of both cultures; the strengthening of communication networks between journalists in the spirit of autonomy and freedom of the press. Journalists from the following countries participated: Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Egypt. The conference included an opening session on "Pluralism and Freedom of the Press in the Mediterranean, promoted by the Region of Campania, a training courseand a closing conference on "Information rights and new technologies", carried out in collaboration with the Department of Information and the Publisher of the Office of the Prime Minister. Meetings with a few of the most innovative local entrepreneurs and visits to the publishing house of "il Mattino" in Naples and RAI in Rome were scheduled. The debate, in which both scholars as well as information sector operators participated, tried to highlight the fundamental issues of cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue, the respective interpretations regarding the question of human and minority rights. The most pressing aspects relative to Euro-Mediterranean relations, migratory flows, EU member country legislation on immigration were also brought to light. The last day featured a discussion of the connections between new communicationtechnologies, information and globalization; the network as a service tool for freedom and human rights.

The project foresees a second meeting which will be held before the end of 2001 in one of the North African countries which participated in the initiative.

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> Conferences 2000

Italo-Latin American Forum: "Development and small enterprise". Policies and tools for small and medium enterprise collaboration
Cespi, Iila, Iceps, Ipalmo, with the collaboration of Mondoimpresa
Verona, Veronafiere, 21 January - 2 February2000

International Economic Organizations - between reform proposals and civil society opposition
Tritone round table meetings/IPALMO
Rome, IPALMO, 9 February2000

Mediterranean Annals
European Commission, IPALMO
Tunisia, Abou Navas El Mec, 19 February2000

Contemporary Islam: identity and prospects
Tritone round table meetings /IPALMO
Rome, IPALMO, 30 March 2000

Globalization and marginalization after Seattle
Tritone round table meetings/IPALMO
Rome, IPALMO, 25 May 2000

Workshop: Italo-Tunisian cooperation for the development of SMEs
Hotel Hilton Tunis
Tunis, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IPALMO, House of Commerce Milan, 28-29 June 2000

Peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea, prospects for the stability and development in the Horn of Africa
Tritone round table meetings/IPALMO
Rome, IPALMO, 4 July 2000

Italian policies for poverty reduction in the South
Cespi, Icef, Iceps, Ipalmo
Rome, 14 July 2000, Conference Room - Palazzo Martini

The AMI Project. Toursim, industrial interdependence and SMEs, in view of the creation of a free exchange zone in the Mediterranean basin
Region of Latium, Region of Tuscany, IPALMO
Region of Latium, Tevere Room, Rome, 20-21 July 2000

The double-headed Europe
Round table meetings at IPALMO
Rome, IPALMO, 26 September 2000

Re-launching development cooperation. Canceling the debt of poor countries and reducing poverty.
Cespi, Ipalmo, Iila, Sid
Rome, IILA, 3 novembre 2000

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> Earlier Conferences

Human Rights
Conference "The challenge of human rights at the dawn of the new Millennium"

Balkans
Update seminar "Lombardy for the Balkans: policies, opportunities, and financial support tools for Italian enterprises interested in reconstruction"

Ateliers Méditerranéens Interrégionaux (AMI)
Thematic forum "The economy of tourism in the Mediterranean"

Development Cooperation
National seminar "Enterprise, Institutions and Territory in Developing Countries: the role of development cooperation"

From dictatorship to democracy
International round table "Non-violent transition from dictatorship to democracy: the Chilean, Czech, Spanish and Polish examples"

Argentina
Seminar entitled "Diffuse entrepreneurship and cooperation: the Lombardian model and Argentina"

Mediterranean Annals
Seminar on "The Definition of a methodology for the Mediterranean Annals project"

World Food Summit
Inter-Parliamentary Conference entitled "Attaining the World Food Summit's Objectives through a Sustainable Development Strategy"

International seminar on "Food and its Frontiers"

Italy/China Cooperation
This seminar on "Which cooperation between Italy and China at the dawn of the Third Millennium" was promoted and organized by the Giordano dell'Amore Foundation , the Milan House of Commerce and IPALMO, which provided a country report.

Investments
"Who invests, where, and why" was a seminar which followed the publication of UNCTAD's World Investment Report 1997. IPALMO organized the conference in collaboration with Iila and the contribution of the Milan House of Commerce.

Desertification
Seminar "The fight against desertification: which action to undertake at the national and international level"

Lomé Convention
This seminar was entitled "Europe and its peripheries: does the Lomé Convention have a future?". A seminar on "The renewal of the Lomé Convention: areas, tools and prospects of cooperation" was also held.

SMEs in MERCOSUR
Seminar "Small and medium enterprises in EU-Mercosur Cooperation"

Green Book
IPALMO organized a meeting with NGO representatives for the presentation of the European Union's "Green Book" on relations with ACP countries, in view of the upcoming Lomé Convention.

Development and environmental restoration:
Conference on "Development and environmental restoration: water a precious good"

The World Food Summit: Food for All
"Parliamentary Day on occasion of the World Food Summit",

EU-SADC and SMEs
Seminar on "The small and medium enterprise development in the EU-SADC context: experiences, instruments and perspectives"