Mario Mattioli, president of the Federation of the Sea, in representation of the Italian maritime cluster, and Giovanni Caprino, president of the BIG Cluster (Blue Italian Growth), the association for the development of the national technology cluster in the context of of the economy of the sea, they signed with Hamadi Baba Hamadi, President of the Mauritanien Maritime Cluster, a facilitated agreement by the technical assistance provided by the WestMed National Hubs of the two countries involved which is in line with the WestMED roadmap Cluster Alliance (WMCA), aimed at accelerating cooperation between maritime clusters in the Western Mediterranean and their innovation facilitators. This first meeting of Consultation between the Italian maritime clusters and the cluster Mauritanian, which took place yesterday in La Spezia and today in Rome, was The opportunity for a broad exchange of views on all the issues of the blue economy in both countries.

In accordance with the guidelines of the two governments and priorities of the WestMED initiative for the promotion of the blue economy in the Western Mediterranean, the three presidents agreed, in compliance with the principles governing relations between clusters within the Westmed Maritime Cluster Alliance, i the establishment of a partnership mechanism, regular consultation and exchange of information and experience; the joint participation in symposia, conferences and events related to blue economy; facilitating relations between actors the blue economy of the two countries; the development of an adequate Technical assistance and cooperation mechanism to support the development of the Mauritanian maritime cluster; the regular exchange of meetings and visits between the three clusters; the implementation of opportunities for joint projects in different sectors of the blue economy; The commitment of the three clusters to form consortia to facilitate participation in calls for proposals for public projects in Mauritania, involving local partners and promoting the development of SMEs.