1GREENPEACE FACTSHEET

THE MEDITERRANEAN NEW ORDER IGNORES ECOLOGY

THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA ECONOMIC SUMMIT

(Amman, Jordan, 29-31 October 1995)

I. INTRODUCTION:

The Mediterranean region is heading at full speed into

a new order. Future privatisation schemes and multi-

billion dollar investments will then dictate development

rules. This trend has been carried out in international

meetings like the Amman Summit in Jordan and the Euro-

Med Conference in Barcelona last fall. In Amman, the

focus was on financial investments binding the Middle

East and Northern Africa to a lasting peace. In

Barcelona, delegates discussed setting up a

Mediterranean free-trade zone. These economic visions

could mean more environmental destruction in the region.

Many plans included the construction of highways,

boosting the tourism sector and expanding or building

new dirty industries. This would mean higher levels of

air pollution in urban centres like Beirut, Damascus,

Amman, Tel Aviv and Alexandria. An uncontrolled tourism

boom would lead to the destruction of coastline areas,

to sea pollution and to wasting water needed in the

vital agricultural sector.

As a follow up to the Casablanca economic meeting in

October 1994, Jordan hosted from October 29-31, 1995,

the Middle East and North Africa Economic Summit. Most

of the 1,600 delegates from 63 countries were

representatives of the international private sector -

all eager to profit from multi-million-dollar projects

in a region that could boom economically in the wake of

an overall peace between the Arab states and Israel.

But sadly, the issue of environmental protection was not

seriously discussed in Amman.

The "Mediterranean New Order" means a growing economic

competition between the United States and the European

Union, which will replace the political competition of

the Cold War period. It could transform Mediterranean

countries into waste bins for uncontrolled consumption.

II. THE MAIN TOPICS IN AMMAN:

The Conference held three working sessions which

focused on the following subjects:

1st session: It focused on the necessity to elaborate a

strategy for regional co-operation between the

governments and the private sector. Future relations

between official bodies and international financial

institutions as well as the role to be played by the

regional capital market in this respect were also

discussed.

Delegates debated means to harmonise economic policies

and laws in the Middle East. Working documents presented

during this session dealt with environment and

sustainable development, the possibilities to create a

trading block in the region and the comparative

advantages of each country.

2nd Session: It dealt with economic strategies in the

Middle East and regional projects of the River Jordan

rift as well as those examined at the multilateral

negotiations such as the regional Councils for Business

and Tourism and the means to finance trade and foster

co-operation mechanisms in the Middle East and North

Africa.

3rd Session: It focused on the economic sectors that

are particularly promising and which are of common

interest for the region such as tourism, transport and

telecommunications. Japan and the European Union (EU)

promised to finance projects like the electricity grid

network

between Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Israel. Japan also

agreed to fund transport-related projects as well as the

building of bridges on the River Jordan.

III. RESULTS:

During the Conference, delegates presented long lists of

projects worth billions of US dollars. The final

declaration of the meeting announced the following

results:

1. The objective of the Summit was to provide the

necessary facilities to promote private investment by

fostering partnership between the private and the public

sector, and to reinforce co-operation and development in

the region. Many businessmen therefore signed contracts

to carry out projects in the fields of trade, tourism,

transport and telecommunications. Some of these projects

will benefit from public guarantees and from technical

and other forms of international aid.

2. A bank for economic co-operation and development in

the Middle East and North Africa is to be created and

will be based in Egypt. The bank is meant to promote private

sector and regional infrastructure projects and provide

a frame for economic co-operation in the area.

3. In order to promote tourism, delegates agreed to set

up a regional council for tourism and an association for

travel and tourism agents in the Middle East and the

Mediterranean countries. These two new institutions

would include representatives of both the private and

the public sectors.

4. An executive general secretariat of the Economic

Summit is to be formed and based in Rabat, Morocco. The

role of the secretariat is to enhance partnership

between the private and public sector and facilitate

consultations between the parties.

5. It is also worth mentioning that among the projects

presented by the various delegations, those of Jordan,

Palestine and Israel were the most extensive and costly.

The Jordanian projects included the development of

touristic activity on the shores of the Dead Sea and

Aqaba and the building of high standard hotels.

Jordan also presented important infrastructure projects

like roads and bridges. It also proposed a plan for

regional management of toxic waste. The mining and metal

sectors were also the most attractive projects, and

co-operation agreements were reached in this field by

Jordan and Israeli companies to produce methyl bromide.

Other joint ventures and co-operation agreements were

also signed in the fields of agriculture and

telecommunications.

The outcome can be summed up in a list of private sector

projects mainly in tourism, infrastructure and minerals

all of which bring more water shortages, sea shore

pollution and ozone depletion to the region and the

world. The legislation gaps, namely in Palestine, may

leave scope for environmental abuses by private

investors who are the main beneficiaries from the

shrinking of public investment.

IV. JORDAN TO IMPORT DIRTY TECHNOLOGIES:

One negative result of regional economic co-operation is

a joint-venture between Jordan and Israel involving the

export of dirty technology from the Israeli-based "Dead

Sea Company", which is the world's second largest methyl

bromide producer.

This raw material for the production of pesticides is

responsible for severely depleting the Earth's

protecting ozone layer.

This deal and others, be they private or public, will

form the "Mediterranean New Order" in line with ongoing

trend towards privatisation. Investments are then to be

decided simply on what will give the biggest profit to

the country or company involved - no matter how

polluting and damaging the consequences are.

IV. GREENPEACE DEMANDS:

The spirit of privatisation and reinforcement of the private

investment is a trend which was carried on from the Amman

Summit through the Euro-Mediterranean Economic Conference in Barcelona. This

could lead to the transfer of dirty

technology and to intransparency of private deals in

investment and trade.

These risks have to be minimised by providing safeguards

within the countries themselves, especially by enacting

regulations and reinforcing control and environmental

assessment measures.

As the Euro-Mediterranean Conference is a prelude to the

much cherished project of a Conference for Security and

Co-operation in the Mediterranean area, an "environmental

security" mobilising theme has to be put forward as a

pillar for economic sustainable development in the

region and as an ultimate goal of co-operation between

the countries of the Mediterranean Basin.

Whatever the true intentions of conferences like those

of Amman and Barcelona are, they should not forget

environmental protection. Conditioning financial

investments to the observance of human rights, peace and

democracy is not enough. In addition, governments and

economists should emphasize environmental protection

when planning investments because sustainable

development is the only guarantee for future security

and lasting peace in the region.

Greenpeace believes that any future development in the

Mediterranean region should take full advantage of the

bitter lessons learnt in industrialised countries, and

strive towards making a quantum leap over environmental

destruction and degradation.

The role of Greenpeace in the coming years will be that

of a keen watchdog lobbying to insert environmental

protection conditions into all accords to be signed.

We will also monitor major projects and ring the alarm bells,

both locally and in the investing country, whenever such

conditions are not observed.

ANNEX: LIST OF PROJECTS PRESENTED IN AMMAN:

1. JORDAN:

Total cost: USD 3.5 billion

Tourism:

Public and private sector (about USD 1 billion)

Building of a number of hotels on the shores of the Dead

Sea and in Aqaba (USD 800 million)

Transport:

Modernisation of the Aqaba Airport (USD 36 million)

Building of bridges between Jordan, Israel and

Palestinian territories (USD 48 million)

Linking of the South and North of Jordan by roads (USD

150 million)

Water:

Supplying Amman with water from the basin of the River

Deisi, 150 km south of Amman (USD 500 million)

A project for management of toxic and dangerous waste

(USD 25 million). This could lead to the construction of

incinerators.

Minerals:

The private sector proposed projects to produce:

Potassium Sulphate and Calcium biphosphate (USD 79

million)

Sulphuric Acid (USD 350 million)

Phosphoric Acid (USD 69 million)

Jordan included economic and financial feasibility

studies for these mineral-related projects which are

expected to be the most attractive for private investors

(much like the touristic projects).

Agriculture:

In co-ordination with the private sector, twelve projects

were presented in the various fields of agriculture (USD

250 million)

Jordan and Israel signed a co-operation agreement in the

agricultural sector.

The private sector presented 17 projects with a total

cost of USD 100 million. The main ones being as follows:

- creation of a data base and information network

between national and International banks

- a reinsurance company for a regional training office

for bankers

2. ISRAELI PROJECTS:

A total of 118 projects (USD 17 billion). Amongst these

are:

- 63 for regional development:

Water, electricity and tourism, mainly on River Jordan,

the Gulf of Aqaba and North Sinai. This includes

economic co-operation between Israel, Jordan, Egypt, the

Palestinian Authority and Saudi Arabia as well as

projects for future co-operation with Syria and Lebanon.

- Some proposals for co-operation in the fields of oil

exploitation and water desalination with Gulf countries.

In this respect, a memorandum of intentions was signed

between Israeli Minister for Energy and Infrastructure

and the executive manager of Enron-Qatar Trading Company

LTD, whereby the latter would be exporting annually

about two million tons of natural gas to Israel by the

year 2000. The total cost of this project is estimated

to USD 4.3 billion where USD 4 billion would be paid by

Qatar and USD 300 million by Israel.

According to some observers, this memorandum may not be

implemented given the high costs it involves. The

alternative could be importing gas at a lower cost from

Egypt or from other Gulf countries. Observers qualified

this declaration of intentions as a mere political

gesture rather than an economic deal.

3. PALESTINIAN PROJECTS:

- transport and communications USD 1358 million

- energy USD 510.3 million

- water USD 1930 million

- environment USD 818.6 million

- tourism USD 438.70 million

- agriculture USD 50.3 million

- export and industry USD 621.383 million

- other projects USD 690.75 million

T O T A L USD 6418.03 million

4. PERCENTAGE OF SHARE OF PROJECTS PER REGION:

31.36 per cent - West Bank

25.74 per cent - Gaza Strip

42.9 per cent - mixed