Union pour la Méditerranée: Cellule de l’Elysée en charge du Projet UPM

HENRI GUAINO, Conseiller spécial du Président Nicolas Sarkozy en charge de l’Union pour la Méditerranée.

Carrière:

Economiste au Crédit lyonnais (1982-86), Chargé de mission à la direction du Trésor au ministère des Finances et Adjoint au secrétaire général du Club de Paris (1987-88), Responsable de la recherche finance au groupe Louis Dreyfus (1989-90), Responsable des activités banque d'affaires et gestion des participations et Chargé de mission auprès du président-directeur général du groupe MAAF assurances (Mutuelle assurance artisanale de France) (1990-93), Chargé de mission auprès de Philippe Séguin (président de l'Assemblée nationale) (1993), Conseiller auprès de Charles Pasqua (ministre d'Etat, ministre de l'Intérieur et de l'Aménagement du territoire) (1994-95), Commissaire au plan (1995-98), Chargé d'élaborer une charte d'aménagement et de développement du territoire des Hauts-de-Seine (1999-2000), Conseiller scientifique de l'Agence pour la diffusion de l'information technologique (Adit) (2002-04), Conseiller maître à la Cour des comptes (depuis 2006), Conseiller spécial de Nicolas Sarkozy (Président de la République) (depuis 2007); Administrateur de l'ADEME (2003-08); Chargé de cours à l'Ecole supérieure de commerce de Paris (ESCP) et à l'Ecole normale supérieure (ENS) de Saint-Cloud (1984-87), Maître de conférence à l'IEP de Paris (1988-2003); Chroniqueur aux Echos et à La Croix (2000-08). Œuvres : L'Etrange renoncement (1998), La France est-elle soluble dans l'Europe ? (en coll. avec Daniel Cohn-Bendit, 1999), La Sottise des modernes (2002).

SERGE TELLE, ambassadeur chargé du projet de l’UPM, ancien directeur de cabinet adjoint de Bernard Kouchner, et a succédé à Alain Le Roy depuis septembre 2008. L’adjoint de Serge Telle est JEAN-CHRISTOPHE MENET.

Carrière:

Il débute sa carrière en poste à l'ambassade de France à Dar-Es-Salam (1982-1984), puis à la mission permanente de la France auprès des Nations unies à New York, où il est en charge des dossiers relatifs aux droits de l'homme et aux questions humanitaires (1984-1988). De 1988 à 1992, il devient conseiller diplomatique de Bernard Kouchner, ministre de la Santé et de l'Action humanitaire. Il est ensuite détaché au Foreign and Commonwealth Office à Londres, chargé des questions balkaniques, avant d'être mis à la disposition de l'Organisation des Nations unies à Genève, comme chef du service de la coordination des opérations humanitaires (1993-1997). En 1997, il est appelé par Lionel Jospin pour devenir conseiller diplomatique au cabinet du Premier ministre. En octobre 2002, il est nommé consul général à Monaco puis, à partir du 1er janvier 2006, suite à l'élévation au rang d'ambassade du consulat de France à Monaco, conséquence de la signature à Paris de la nouvelle Convention franco-monégasque, il devient ambassadeur extraordinaire et plénipotentiaire auprès de la Principauté. En mai 2007, il est appelé par Bernard Kouchner comme directeur-adjoint de son cabinet au Ministère des Affaires étrangères.

GILLES MENTRE est chargé des questions économiques et financières de l’UPM, en particulier de la mise en œuvre de la Banque d’investissement du Sud et du fonds IINFRAMED de la CDC.

Carrière:

Inspecteur des Finances, Responsable des questions économiques et financières, Mission Union pour la Méditerranée, Présidence de la République (janvier 2008 -). exConseiller diplomatique (international, affaires européennes) de M. Jean-Louis Borloo, Ministre de l’Economie, des Finances et de l’Emploi (avril – juin 2007). Conseiller diplomatique (international, affaires européennes) de M. Thierry Breton, Ministre de l’Economie, des Finances et de l’Industrie (juillet 2006 – avril 2007). Deuxième conseiller à l’Ambassade de France à Moscou, chancellerie diplomatique, (août 2005 – juillet 2006) : questions multilatérales (G8, UE, OMC, énergie, environnement). Chargé de mission auprès du directeur général du Trésor et de la Politique économique (avril-juin 2005) : financements innovants pour le développement. Rapporteur du groupe de travail sur les nouvelles contributions financières internationales, dit « groupe Landau » (novembre 2003 – juillet 2004). A l’Inspection générale des Finances (avril 2002 – juin 2005), missions d’audit et de vérification, notamment auprès de Radio France Internationale, de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux et du Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel.

OLIVIER AUBERT est en charge des financements des divers projets de l’UPM.

ANTOINE-TRISTAN MOCILNIKAR supervise l’environnement et est chargé du projet solaire méditerranéen (PSM). Il est assisté de GILLES PENNEQUIN et de JULIA JORDAN.

MICHELE GENDREAU-MASSALOUX, recteur, conseiller d’Etat, est chargée des questions d’enseignement et de recherche (projet de recherche méditerranéen de Beyrouth, centre de recherche de Marseille, etc.) assistée de YANNICK PROST.

Carrière:

Assistante à l´Institut d´études ibériques de Paris-Sorbonne (1967-70), Maître-assistante à l´Université Paris-XIII-Villetaneuse (1970-72), Chargée d´enseignement, Maître de conférence, Professeur (1972-81) et Vice-présidente de l´Université de Limoges (1980-81), Recteur de l´Académie d´Orléans-Tours (1981-84), Conseiller technique (1984-85), Secrétaire général adjoint (1985-88) de la Présidence de la République, Porte-parole de la Présidence de la République (1986-88), Membre de la Commission nationale de la communication et des libertés (CNCL) (1988-89), Recteur de l´Académie de Paris (1989-98), Vice-président du Conseil supérieur de l´Education nationale (1989), Membre du Conseil supérieur de la langue française (1989), Présidente de l´Association de préfiguration de la Cité de la musique (1990), Membre du Conseil des projets de l'Institut national de l'audiovisuel (Ina) (1990), Membre de la Commission française pour l'Unesco (1991), Membre des conseils des collèges universitaires français de Moscou (1991) et Saint Pétersbourg (CEI), Membre du comité scientifique de la Bibliothèque de France (1992), Membre du conseil scientifique de la Cinquième, chaîne de la Connaissance (1996), Conseiller d'Etat (1998), Présidente de la Commission de surveillance et de contrôle des publications destinées à l'enfance et à l'adolescence (1999-2000), Membre de la commission de contrôle des sondages (1999-2000), Recteur de l'Agence universitaire de la francophonie (AUF) (1999-2007), Membre du conseil de l'ordre national de la Légion d'honneur (depuis 2005); Professeur puis Professeur associé à l'université Paris VIII-Vincennes Saint-Denis (depuis 1999). Œuvre : Recherches sur l´humanisme de Francisco de Quevedo (1977). Décor. : Commandeur de la Légion d´honneur et de l´ordre national du Mérite, Chevalier des Palmes académiques.

NATHALIE PILHES, ex adjointe au maire du XIIIe arrondissement de Paris est chargée des questions de la justice, des migrations et de la sécurité. Elle travaille avec l’officier de gendarmerie BERNARD RIBIOLLET.

JACQUES HUNTZINGER, ex-ambassadeur de France en Israël et Président de la Fondation FRANCE-ISRAËL est en charge des affaires culturelles. Il est également Président d´honneur du Club financier méditerranéen.

Carrière:

Médecin, Directeur puis Coordinateur de la clinique Saint-Martin à Marseille (depuis 1985); Conseiller général des Bouches-du-Rhône (1992 et 1993-95), Conseiller régional de Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (2002), Député des Bouches-du-Rhône, inscrit au groupe de l'Union pour la majorité présidentielle (UMP) (1993-2002), cède son siège à Bruno Gilles (2002), Secrétaire d'Etat aux Affaires étrangères (2002-05), élu à nouveau le 17 juin 2007 Député des Bouches-du-Rhône, inscrit au groupe de l'Union pour un Mouvement populaire (UMP); Premier adjoint au maire (depuis 1995) et Vice-président de la communauté urbaine (depuis 2001) de Marseille; au Rassemblement pour la République (RPR) : Membre du conseil national (1987), Secrétaire départemental des Bouches-du-Rhône (1991), Délégué général, chargé des relations avec le Parlement (1995), Membre du bureau politique (1998); Membre fondateur et membre du bureau de l'Union pour la majorité présidentielle (UMP); Président de l'établissement public Euroméditerranée (1995), Président (2001-05), Président d'honneur (depuis 2005) de l'Association pour la gestion indépendante des réseaux (Agir), Président du conseil culturel de l'Union pour la Méditerranée (depuis 2009). . Œuvres : la Méditerranée : une chance pour la France et l'Amiral Muselier, le créateur de la croix de Lorraine (2000). Décor. : Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. Dist. : Docteur honoris causa de l'Université de médecine d'Erevan (Arménie).

CLAUDE CHEREAU est en charge depuis 2008 auprès de Michel Barnier (ministre de l'Agriculture et de la Pêche) pour le volet agricole de l'Union pour la Méditerranée.

Carrière:

Nommé à l´Office national interprofessionnel des céréales (Onic) (depuis 1964), détaché comme Délégué adjoint pour les affaires agricoles à la représentation permanente de la France auprès des communautés à Bruxelles (1976-78), Sous-directeur à l´Onic (1978-80), Chargé de la sous-direction des affaires européennes au ministère de l´Agriculture (1980-82), Attaché agricole près l´ambassade de France en Espagne (1982-85), Conseiller technique au cabinet du ministre de l´Agriculture (1985), Directeur général adjoint de l´Onic (1985-88), Conseiller technique à la présidence de la République (1988-90), Directeur de la production et des échanges au ministère de l´Agriculture (1990-94), Inspecteur général de l'Agriculture (depuis 1994), Conseiller agricole près l'ambassade de France aux Etats-Unis (1995-97), Conseiller pour l'agriculture et la pêche au cabinet de Lionel Jospin (Premier ministre) (1997-2000), Ambassadeur, représentant permanent de la France auprès de la Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) et du Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM) (2000-03), à l'Inspection générale de l'agriculture (depuis 2003), chargé de la réforme des offices d'intervention agricole; Président de la commission des comptes de l'agriculture de la Nation (depuis 2007), Membre du Comité d'éthique sur la recherche agronomique commun à l'INRA (Institut national de la recherche agronomique) et au CIRAD (Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement) (depuis 2008), Chargé de mission (depuis 2008) auprès de Michel Barnier (ministre de l'Agriculture et de la Pêche) pour le volet agricole de l'Union pour la Méditerranée. Œuvres : les Montants compensatoires (1975), la Révolution agricole américaine (en coll., 1994); nombreux articles historiques sur l'Anjou. Décor. : Officier de la Légion d'honneur et de l'ordre national du Mérite, Commandeur du Mérite agricole et du Mérite agricole espagnol.

OLIVIER STIRN est chargé de mission pour la liaison entre l’UPM et l’Union africaine.


Carrière:

Chef de cabinet du préfet de la Meuse (1961-64), Chargé de mission au cabinet (1964) puis Chef de cabinet (1965) de Louis Jacquinot (ministre d´Etat chargé des Départements et Territoires d´Outre-Mer [Dom-Tom]), de Jean Charbonnel (secrétaire d´Etat aux Affaires étrangères, chargé de la Coopération) (1966-67), de Jacques Chirac (secrétaire d´Etat aux Affaires sociales, chargé des problèmes de l´emploi) (1967-68); Député du Calvados, inscrit au groupe UDR (1968-73), cède son siège à Antoine Le Peltier, Secrétaire d´Etat auprès du ministre chargé des Relations avec le Parlement (1973-74), Secrétaire d´Etat aux Dom-Tom (1974-78), Secrétaire d´Etat auprès du ministre des Affaires étrangères (1978), mis à la disposition du ministre de la Défense (1980-81), Député du Calvados, non inscrit (1981-86), Député de la Manche, non inscrit (1986-88), cède son siège à Bernard Cauvin (1988), Ministre délégué, chargé des Dom-Tom (1988), Ministre délégué, chargé du Tourisme (1988-90), Conseiller général du Calvados (1970-88 et 1994-2001), Maire de Vire (1971), Président de Louis Harris Conseil (1990-91), Président de la Communauté urbaine de Cherbourg (1989-90); Ambassadeur, représentant permanent de la France auprès du Conseil de l´Europe à Strasbourg (1991-93), Consultant international (depuis 1993), Président de EOS Conseil international (1998-2001), Conseiller de Rothschild & C ie (1998-2001); Directeur de collection aux Editions du Félin (depuis 2005); Fondateur du Mouvement des sociaux-libéraux (1977), Vice-président du Parti radical socialiste (1977), Cofondateur du Carrefour social-démocrate (1977), Président fondateur de l'Union centriste et républicaine (1984), Délégué national du Parti socialiste (1986), Membre du conseil national de la Gauche et des Forces du progrès (1987), Président de Dialogue 2000 (depuis 1988); à l'Union pour un mouvement populaire (UMP) : Conseiller de Nicolas Sarkozy (président de l'UMP) (2005-07), Conseiller exécutif (depuis 2007). Œuvres : le Piège (en coll., 1973), Une certaine idée du centre (1985), Tourisme : chance pour l'économie, risque pour les sociétés ?, Mes présidents (50 ans de service de la V e République) (2004). Décor. : Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur.

CAROLINE CORNU, chef de Cabinet, ex chargé de mission auprès du Secrétaire d’Etat chargé de l’outre-mer et ancienne responsable communication de Christian Estrosi.

Autres Personnalités en charge de l'Union pour la Méditerranée :

RENAUD MUSELIER, médecin et Député des Bouches-du-Rhône (entres autres) est le Président du conseil culturel de l'Union pour la Méditerranée depuis 2009). Œuvres : la Méditerranée : une chance pour la France.

Carrière:

Médecin, Directeur puis Coordinateur de la clinique Saint-Martin à Marseille (depuis 1985); Conseiller général des Bouches-du-Rhône (1992 et 1993-95), Conseiller régional de Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (2002), Député des Bouches-du-Rhône, inscrit au groupe de l'Union pour la majorité présidentielle (UMP) (1993-2002), cède son siège à Bruno Gilles (2002), Secrétaire d'Etat aux Affaires étrangères (2002-05), élu à nouveau le 17 juin 2007 Député des Bouches-du-Rhône, inscrit au groupe de l'Union pour un Mouvement populaire (UMP); Premier adjoint au maire (depuis 1995) et Vice-président de la communauté urbaine (depuis 2001) de Marseille; au Rassemblement pour la République (RPR) : Membre du conseil national (1987), Secrétaire départemental des Bouches-du-Rhône (1991), Délégué général, chargé des relations avec le Parlement (1995), Membre du bureau politique (1998); Membre fondateur et membre du bureau de l'Union pour la majorité présidentielle (UMP); Président de l'établissement public Euroméditerranée (1995), Président (2001-05), Président d'honneur (depuis 2005) de l'Association pour la gestion indépendante des réseaux (Agir), Président du conseil culturel de l'Union pour la Méditerranée (depuis 2009). . Œuvres : la Méditerranée : une chance pour la France et l'Amiral Muselier, le créateur de la croix de Lorraine (2000). Décor. : Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. Dist. : Docteur honoris causa de l'Université de médecine d'Erevan (Arménie).

FDI News : Rethinking Iraq

FDI.net, June 12, 2009

With the security situation much improved, and a government committed to private investment, Iraq could be a risk worth taking, says Lara Williams.

Conflict in Iraq may have put off foreign investors over the past five years, but improvements in security during the past 12 months have stabilised the economy, which, in turn, has meant that the demand for goods and services has risen rapidly. This heralds a turning point in Iraq’s economic development which offers encouragement for foreign investors considering a return to the country.

The current Iraqi administation has developed a reputation for being business-friendly, outlining a strategy for expanding the country’s private sector and attracting international inv­estors. Foreign investment into the country in 2008 was the highest recorded since 2003, evidence that companies are beginning to view Iraq as a viable investment location.

According to greenfield investment monitor fDi Intelligence, inward investment reached $20.17bn in 2008, creating 12,152 jobs, compared with $457.6m in 2007, when foreign firms created just 902 jobs.

Signed, sealed, delivered.

At the Invest Iraq 2009 conference in London in April, Iraq’s deputy prime minister, Dr Barham Salih, expressed the importance of economic reconstruction to the lasting stability of the country. He said: “Jobs and services are the best counter-insurgency strategy – economic reconstruction based on private-sector initiatives.”

Iraq’s public sector provides 43% of the country’s jobs and nearly 60% of all full-time employment, so the government has some way to go in expanding the country’s private sector. Iraq’s government realises that economic regeneration cannot be achieved through public-sector spending alone.

The Iraqi government is attracting foreign investment by overhauling the regulatory environment to make doing business easier, promoting private-sector engagement and through the equal treatment of foreign and domestic investors in all areas except land ownership. However, it is also in the process of amending this law in cases of strategic investments.

Oil dependence.

Apart from security, other challenges include inflationary pressures and the state’s over-dependence on oil revenue, which makes up more than 60% of GDP and 19% of budget revenues. The global financial crisis is intensifying the need to boost oil production and to diversify the economy generally.

UK business minister Peter Mandelson believes that the security situation has improved and a more stable business environment has already attracted UK companies to the country. “The sheer scale of the oil on which Iraq sits means it is paramount to unlock that wealth to drive economic growth and future prosperity,” he said at the Invest Iraq conference.

The importance of diversification.

Economic diversification is also important because growth in 2009 is expected to be slower than in 2008 due to lower oil prices, and growth in the non-oil private sector is too low to fully compensate and will be constrained by global economic conditions.

Despite a fall in oil prices and the international economic crisis, the IMF estimates that the Iraqi economy will grow by more than 7% during 2009 and will continue to increase at this rate for the next five years.

So with improved security, an abundance of natural resources, a business-friendly administration and the abatement of conflict, Iraq may see much-needed inward investment start to flow through after the economic stagnation of the war years.

Interactive War in Iraq : Country Fact File

Quote of the week: the metris for judging solar technologies

"The solar industry is coming of age, and the metrics for judging solar technologies are shifting. Instead of upfront capital cost for adding generation capacity -- or cost per watt peak ($/Wp) -- the new standard is the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE)."

--Ted Sullivan, Senior Analyst at Lux Research

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Mediterranean Sea Basin ENPI CBC Programme launches first Call for Proposal

The first call for projects under the Mediterranean Sea Basin ENPI CBC Programme has been opened. It is for all four Programme Priorities and ten measures, and the allocation is over €32 million.

The "ENPI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme 2007/2013" is a multilateral cross-border cooperation programme co-financed by the EU under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI). The Programme provides the framework for the implementation of cross-border and cooperation activities in the context of the ENP, complementing efforts exerted within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, with the final aim of developing an area of peace, stability, prosperity and good neighbourliness involving EU Mediterranean Countries and Mediterranean Partner Countries.

The call for proposals is open to all the 4 Programme Priorities:

• Promotion of socio-economic development and enhancement of territories.

• Promotion of environmental sustainability at the basin level.

• Promotion of better conditions and modalities for ensuring the mobility of persons, goods and capitals.

• Promotion of cultural dialogue and local governance.

Projects shall have total eligible costs ranging from a minimum of €500,000 up to a maximum of €2,000,000. For Priority 4 the minimum ceiling for project is reduced at €200,000 for 50% of the total budget allocated to this priority. The planned duration of a project cannot exceed 48 months.

The deadline for submission of grant applications is 16 September 2009.

Sweden shows support for Turkiye's EU bid as it takes over bloc's helm

Sweden, who took over the rotating EU presidency from the Czech Republic, will continue to support Turkey until the day it becomes a full member of the European Union, the country's ambassador in Ankara Christer Asp told the state-run Anatolian Agency.

"I think that it is wrong to only look at how many chapters have been opened for negotiations," Asp said. "What is crucial is the continuation of negotiations. It is important to meet the conditions and criteria in order to open new chapters of negotiations."

Turkey, which began accession talks in 2005, on Tuesday opened talks on taxation, one of the 35 policy negotiating areas – or chapters – all would-be members have to complete before joining.

Ankara has now formally opened 11 chapters. Eight other chapters have been frozen since 2006 due to a customs dispute with Greek Cypriots. France is blocking another five chapters directly linked to EU membership.

Asp said Sweden is ready to open all negotiating areas with Turkey, but added the chapters remaining to be opened are the most difficult ones.

He also said he has no doubt that Turkey will become a full member of the EU, adding it would be a strategic error not to let Turkey into the bloc.

Swedish officials recently expressed support for Turkey's long-running membership bid, as the Nordic country has said it is determined to continue progress in Turkey’s accession negotiations.

Related links:

Turkey to 'never give up' EU bid, BBC

Turkey has urged France and Germany to back its bid to join the EU, rejecting calls for a special partnership rather than full membership.

Ankara takes slow step forward in EU accession talks, Today's Zaman

At a regular ministerial conference held Tuesday in Brussels, Turkey and the European Union officially opened membership negotiations on the taxation chapter, bringing the number of areas currently under consideration to 11, out of 35 chapters in total.

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Energy firms baulk at Iraqi oil licensing terms

Iraq's Oil Ministry reached agreement on just one deal with energy majors in its first oil licensing round, as companies baulked at Baghdad's tough terms and conditions.

A consortium led by the UK's BP won a deal to develop the Rumaila oil field in the south but only after a group led by the US' ExxonMobil Corporation had earlier rejected the government's proposed fee.

BP with its consortium partner, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), had to drop its remuneration fee to $2 a barrel of oil from its original bid of $3.99 a barrel in order to secure the deal.

While the ministry received bids for four other fields, it failed to secure deals after international oil companies rejected its tight terms.

For the Bai Hassan oil field in the north, a group led by the US' ConocoPhillips bid a remuneration fee of $26.70 a barrel compared with the ministry's maximum of $4 a barrel.

China's two state-run companies Sinochem Petroleum and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) declined to agree to the ministry's fee of $2.30 a barrel for the Missan oil field in the south after they bid $21.40 a barrel.

The UK/Dutch Shell Group led a consortium which submitted the sole bid for the Kirkuk oil field in the north but a deal is not thought to have been concluded by the close of proceedings in Baghdad on 30 June.

Four bids were received for the Zubair oil field in the south but it was again unclear if a deal had been made before the deadline imposed by the ministry.

No bids were received for the eastern Mansouria gas field while one bid was received by the US' Edison International for the western Akkas gas field but a deal was not thought to have been made.

Five bids were tabled by different consortiums for the West Qurna oil field in the south.

The oil licences cover 60 per cent of Iraq's reserves.

The Iraqi government is relying on the licences to produce oil at the six fields to enable it to meet its long-term goal of boosting the state's oil production to 6 million barrels a day (b/d) by 2013, from its current level of 2.4 million b/d (MEED 26:6:09).

• Author: Perry Williams. Senior Energy Writer, London.

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Naming an Emerging Movement

by John Geraci

There's a movement going on around the world.

We don't have a name for it, though.

Gov2.0, e-gov, e-democracy, open gov--these are all names that get applied to what is happening. And they are great for describing a certain aspect of this movement, the aspect that actually deals with government.

What's really going on right now is much bigger than that. Open gov is a big part of the story, but not the whole story. On top of Open Gov, there are organizations like The Open Planning Project (TOPP), or Front Seat, or my own DIYcity, working alongside these open gov groups, trying to make the whole civic system work better. Or there is Robin Chase, CEO of GoLoco and founder of ZipCar, singlehandedly trying to reinvent the way transportation works in cities. Or there is the subway alert I just got in my inbox, courtesy of New York City's MTA, notifying me that the F train has delays due to mechanical problems. All of these entities--TOPP, Front Seat et al, plus the open gov groups--are interrelated, and together create a new, emerging ecosystem of information, user activity, and possibility. But that ecosystem doesn't fit neatly under the hood of "Gov 2.0" or any of the other "gov" labels.

Recalling my post last week about the four pillars of an open civic system, these "gov" names--e-gov, gov2.0, open gov--focus on the G2C aspect of what is going on, to the exclusion of the other aspects of this open civic system that is emerging.

And this new civic system should have a name, because it is a real ecosystem. It is also a movement, with more and more people focusing on it around the world every day. It is also increasingly becoming an industry.

So what do we call this new thing?

What do we say when we want to say to someone, "All of the stuff that is emerging right now in the civic space that helps communities operate better, both with and without direct or indirect involvement on the part of the government?"

I was talking with Micah Sifry, co-host of this week's Personal Democracy Forum, a while back, and he suggested the name "civic software" for the apps that come out of this space. Riffing off that, I have been talking about the "open civic system." Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures, who recently posted on this movement, thinks that name is too long, but also thinks "civic software" doesn't quite do it justice.

So I thought I would open up a thread here on Radar for a discussion:

What should this new space be called?

Let me know what you think. All ideas are welcome...

Turkey Is Getting Ready To Harvest Its Renewable Energy Potential.

When we talk about wind, solar and geothermal power, geographical conditions such as surface areas and sunny latitudes are very important. Turkey offers excellent conditions for all of these renewable energy sources. Its young population of 70 million - 61% are under the age of 35 - and its strategic location between Europe and the Middle East, add to Turkey’s potential for a leading green power nation.

As Turkey aims at taking its place among the top-ten biggest economies by 2050, an increase in its energy consumption is inevitable. Electricity demand has been growing with an annual rate of 6.5% since 2002, up to current levels of 198,000 GWh/y. Scenarios forecast a 6% growth rate until 2020, compared to growth rates of 1-3% in developed countries. However, Turkey’s growth of electricity supply barely matches its fast growth of demand. The country began experiencing shortages already, and power has become a more popular daily topic. Total installed capacity is at 42,000 MW, with foreign natural gas (48%), coal (29%) and hydro power (17%) providing the biggest shares of resources. So far, the share of renewable energy is close to 1% of the total installed capacity.

In 2006, the government passed a set of incentives to stimulate the renewable energy sector. The efforts successfully resulted in substantial increases in the wind power capacity to 433 MW in 2009 from 50 MW levels in 2006. From 2007 to 2008, the capacity almost quadrupled. Currently, there is additional 450 MW construction to be completed by the end of 2009. Roof-top solar panels, which are commonly used for water heating in the Mediterranean region, produce energy equivalent to almost 4800 GWh/y, however installed photovoltaic capacity is only 2 MW. Turkey is the 5th in the World in operating geothermal energy applications with equivalence of 1380 MW capacity used in direct district heating and tourism industry. Geothermal power production capacity is currently 30 MW. So far, only modest steps have been taken since the government has not set clear targets or competitive incentives on new technologies yet.

According to studies, Turkey has around 48,000 MW of wind power potential (see REPA) with speeds higher than 7 m/s. The geothermal energy potential of the country is around 31,500 MW -one of the highest in Europe- which could be used for both heating and electricity production purposes. As Turkey is the second sunniest country in Europe after Spain, it can draw 380,000 GWh/y of solar energy - almost double the total electricity consumption of the country in 2008.

Turkey has signed the UNFCCC Kyoto Protocol this year, and the country is going to be assigned a reduction of greenhouse gases for the post-2012-phase, which will eventually turn into clearer targets in its renewable energy sector.

It is expected that the Parliamentary General Assembly will pass an amendment to “Renewable Energy Resources Law 4628″ in July, effectively setting a purchase price, or feed-in-tariff, for renewable energy. While the renewable energy can be sold to the public at rates shown in Graph-1, the prices are still not competitive enough to make solar favorable against natural gas. The tariffs for photovoltaics are set at EUR 0.25/kWh only for the first 10 years of operation, and then decrease to EUR 0.20 for the next 10 years.

While rates in other European countries are much more attractive (see Graph-2), particularly in countries like Greece and Italy trying to catch up to their western neighbors, it is the first serious step towards setting a long-term purchase price incentive for renewable energy producers. The mechanism is expected to increase developments in the Turkish renewable energy sector, and investors are already beginning to position themselves in the market.

There are still many unclear issues regarding regulations and their execution. While this problem is not unique to Turkey, the country’s transmission grid needs extensive upgrades. Despite this and other much needed developments, EU directives, feed-in-tariffs, Kyoto mechanism obligations, and technological developments in the solar and wind industries are pushing the country onto the right track. Setting up and achieving goals may need more time than planned, but it is clear that Turkey is becoming more aware of its natural conditions.

[photo credit: UweBKK]

Related Links :

Ministry of Energy and Natural Ressources (Enerji ve Tabi Kaynaklar Bakanlığı)
http://www.enerji.gov.tr

General Directorate of Electrical Power Ressources Survey (Elektril İşleri Etüt İdaresi Genel Müdürlüğü)
http://www.eie.gov.tr

EPDK (Enerji Piyasası Düzenleme Kurumu)
http://www.epdk.gov.tr

TEIAS (Türkiye Elektrik İletim A. Ş. Genel Müdürlüğü)
http://www.teias.gov.tr

Union of Chambers of Turkish engineers and architects, TMMOB
http://www.tmmob.org.tr/

Wind Power and Hydropower Plants Businessmen's Association (Rüzgar Enerjisi ve Su Santralleri İşadamları Derneği)

http://www.ressiad.org.tr

The Chamber of Electrical Engineer (Dünya Enerji Konseyi Türk Milli Komitesi)

http://www.emo.org.tr/genel/bizden_detay.php?kod=50979&tipi=50&sube=0

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La France tente de relancer une Union pour la Méditerranée grippée par les crises.

A l’occasion d’une réunion à Paris pour évoquer les projets de développement durable, les pays membres de l’Union pour la Méditerranée reprennent leurs travaux après six mois au ralenti.

Paris relance l'Union pour la Méditerranée (UPM). Bloquée par les évènements de Gaza du début de l’année 2009 et le refroidissement des relations israélo-palestiniennes qui ont suivi, l’UPM serait prête à repartir, un an après son lancement officiel. Des délégations des 43 pays membres sont en effet reçues par le ministère de l’Ecologie, jeudi 25 juin, pour faire le point sur les projets de développement durable.

« L’UPM a connu un fort ralentissement à partir de janvier. […] Nous avons convaincu nos partenaires de reprendre les réunions au niveau formel », a indiqué le conseiller technique chargé de l’Economie et des finances à la cellule de l’UPM de l’Elysée, Gilles Mentré, lors d’une conférence organisée par la Fondation pour l’innovation politique le 19 juin.

Et si le processus est reparti, c’est « uniquement parce que nous avions changé de paramètre de coopération », ajoute-t-il. Contrairement aux réunions du processus de Barcelone, qui rassemblaient ambassadeurs et experts, les rencontres de l’Union pour la Méditerranée réunissent chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement. Un souhait du président français à l’initiative du projet, et un « atout précieux », selon Gilles Mentré. Ce qui a permis, selon les diplomates présents, de surmonter la crise de Gaza sans qu’aucun pays n’envisage de quitter l'UPM. Un point de vue partagé par le président de l’Institut du monde arabe, Dominique Baudis. « C’était une erreur de lancer le processus de Barcelone simplement à un niveau ministériel. Quand l’initiative est prise au niveau des chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement, l’impact politique est plus fort.»

Quoi qu’il en soit, l’UPM en est encore au démarrage. Lancée en grande pompe le 13 juillet 2008 à Paris, l’Union pour la Méditerranée s’est alors vu doter d’une coprésidence franco-egyptienne. Dans le domaine institutionnel, si l'on sait déjà que le secrétariat général se situera à Barcelone, l'équipe qui le composera reste encore à constituer. «Tous les pays de la rive sud de la Méditerranée ont été d’accord pour y renoncer à condition que leur voisin ne l’ait pas », a expliqué Dominique Baudis. La nomination de ce secrétariat général devrait cependant intervenir d’ici la fin de l’année, les conditions politiques étant « à nouveau réunies », a indiqué Gilles Mentré.

Un Israélien et un Palestinien devraient figurer parmi les secrétaires généraux adjoints. Cette tentative de rapprocher les deux camps par le biais de l’UPM semble s’arrêter là. L’objectif du projet est bel et bien de lier les pays du pourtour méditerranéen par le biais de projets concrets. Ainsi, selon la conception française de cette Union, les difficultés entre les Etats membres de l’UPM ne devraient réellement pas constituer d’obstacles à l’avancement du projet. « Il faut d’abord construire des solidarités concrètes pour intégrer la zone et permettre les conditions de paix », a réitéré Gilles Mentré.

Vers un partenariat énergétique?

Parmi elles, les coopérations énergétiques ont été mises en avant au cours de la conférence. « Ce ne serait pas la première fois que l’économique, à travers l’énergie, pourrait servir d’effet de levier », a indiqué le directeur de la communication et des affaires publiques de RTE, Michel Derdevet. Une allusion à la construction de la communauté européenne du charbon et de l’acier, projet à l’origine de l’Union européenne actuelle.

9% de la demande d’énergie mondiale vient du pourtour méditerranéen. La croissance électrique des pays du sud est de 6 à 7% contre 1% pour le nord. « Encourager les pays proches à travailler entre eux a un sens, a-t-il ajouté. Notre interdépendance peut déboucher sur un concept de partenariat énergétique. »

Mais cette logique de projet semble cependant loin d’être partagée par tous les protagonistes. « On ne peut pas faire abstraction de ce conflit israélo-palestinien. Les questions identitaires doivent êtres réglées avant de faire l’UPM », a lancé le directeur de la représentation diplomatique de la Ligue des Etats arabes à Paris, Nassif Hitti au cours d’un discours sur l’UPM pour le moins engagé. « Il ne faut pas que le processus devienne otage. Mais on ne peut pas faire abstraction de la situation. Sans Madrid, il n’y aurait pas eu Barcelone. Si on ne retrouve pas l’esprit de Madrid, il n’y aura pas de Barcelone un, deux, ou trois », a-t-il ajouté. En 1991, la conférence de Madrid avait favorisé les discussions de paix qui conduisirent aux Accords d'Oslo de 1993 et au traité de paix israélo-jordanien de 1994.

« L’UPM est en difficulté puisque les Etats membres qui la composent sont en panne », a pour sa part ajouté Asteris Huliaras, professeur associé au département de géographie de l’université Harokopion d’Athènes.

« Le vrai bilan de l’UPM sera à faire deux ans après le lancement », a tenté de rassurer Gilles Mentré. Les réalisations de projets concrets, tels que le plan solaire ou les autoroutes de la mer ont donc encore un an pour commencer à porter leurs fruits.

A lire également:

Making sense of Sarkozy’s Union for the Mediterranean by Michael Emerson, CEPS Policy Briefs.

L'UPM est vivante, par Frédéric Allemand, Entretien paru dans Sud Ouest - jeudi 30 avril 2009

Union pour la Méditerranée, première réunion sur les projets de développement durable

24/06/2009 09:13, Par Pierre MELQUIOT.

La première réunion ministérielle de l’Union pour la Méditerranée traitera de quatre enjeux majeurs du développement durable : l’eau et l’environnement, les transports, l’énergie et le développement urbain.

Jean-Louis Borloo, ..., et Rachid Mohamed Rachid, ministre du Commerce et de l’Industrie Egyptien co-présideront à Paris, le jeudi 25 juin 2009, la première réunion ministérielle de l’Union pour la Méditerranée sur les projets de développement durable.

Cette première réunion ministérielle de l’Union pour la Méditerranée traitera de quatre enjeux majeurs : l’eau et l’environnement, les transports, l’énergie et le développement urbain. Elle constituera le point de départ d’un processus nouveau.

L’objectif est de faire un point sur l’état d’avancement des projets et sur leur gouvernance mais également sur leurs financements. Il s’agira de mieux coordonner les institutions financières, de mettre à disposition des capacités de réalisation et de promouvoir des technologies ou des concepts innovants que porte le développement durable. Cette réunion permettra aussi de faire connaître les réalisations exemplaires de la Méditerranée à tous ses riverains.

La première réunion ministérielle de l’Union pour la Méditerranée traitera de quatre enjeux majeurs du développement durable : l’eau et l’environnement, les transports, l’énergie et le développement urbain.

La tenue de cette première réunion ministérielle de l’Union pour la Méditerranée avait été décidée lors de la réunion ministérielle des Affaires étrangères des 3 et 4 novembre 2008 à Marseille.

L’Union pour la Méditerranée a été lancée le 13 juillet dernier par les 43 Chefs d’État et de Gouvernement de l’Union européenne et de la Méditerranée, lors du Sommet de Paris pour la Méditerranée. Cette Union vise à promouvoir une nouvelle politique de coopération et de développement dans toute la région méditerranéenne.

L’Union pour la Méditerranée a pour but de lancer et de renforcer un certain nombre d’initiatives clés comme : la dépollution de la Méditerranée, les autoroutes de la mer et les autoroutes terrestres, la stratégie de l’eau en Méditerranée et le plan solaire méditerranéen.

Plus d'informations sur le site du Ministère de l'Environnement, le MEEDDAT.

La Finance Islamique légalisée en France

La finance islamique en France, 11 Juin 2009.

Annoncée par Bercy, l'arrivée des obligations islamiques sur la place de Paris est-elle plus qu'un petit pas ?

« Echanges », la revue professionnelle des dirigeants financiers, n'en doute pas. Dans un dossier intitulé « Tout est prêt », très complet, elle met clairement en avant la nécessité économique qui s'impose en France, avec l'avance grandissante des Anglo-Saxons en la matière. Mais quel est son avenir en France ? demande l'économiste Michel Ruimy, qui souligne l'impossibilité d'évaluer l'ampleur des attentes, vu le manque d'offre.

L'interrogation. Jean-Jacques Pluchart, professeur à Paris-II, élargit le sujet sur la capacité des autorités bancaires et religieuses dans le monde à s'accorder, « puisque chacun des acteurs légitimes est attaché à la stricte logique économique d'un marché ou à l'orthodoxie d'un dogme philosophique ou religieux ».

La citation. « Il n'est pas anodin de pouvoir créer des liens financiers, en plus des liens commerciaux [...], entre l'Occident et le monde musulman. Le développement de la finance islamique apparaît ainsi comme le prolongement du «doux commerce», facteur de paix, cher à Montesquieu », souligne Hervé de Charette, ancien ministre et actuel président de la Chambre de commerce franco-arabe.

La Référence : “Ô, vous qui croyez, craignez Dieu. Renoncez, si vous êtes croyants, à ce qui vous reste des profits de l’usure. Si vous vous repentez, votre capital vous restera. Ne lésez personne et vous ne serez pas lésé”. Coran, sourat Albakara, 1 ; 278-279.

Sommaire du dossier :

Quels enjeux pour la France, Hervé de Charette.
http://www.financeislamiquefrance.fr/livre-preface.php
Les préceptes de la charia, Imane Karich.
Panorama des encours mondiaux, Zoubeir Ben Terdeyet.
Fonds souverains : du gisement pétrolier à l’investissement stratégique, Anass Patel.
Adapter le cadre juridique : une nécessité pour attirer les investisseurs, Gilles Saint Marc.
Quelle vocation pour la banque islamique ? Michel Ruimy.
La gouvernance plurielle de la banque islamique, Jean-Jacques Pluchart.
Le takaful, une alternative aux assurances conventionnelles, Khalid Achiakh.

Pour plus d'information :
Une synergie possible entre finance islamique et ISR ? Novethic.
http://www.financeislamiquefrance.fr/useruploads/files/novethic_finance_islamique.pdf

2009 Islamic Financial Institutions Awards.
http://www.gfmag.com/latest/features/1834-features-islamic-financial-institution%5C%20s-awards-2009.html

Formation : Comprendre la Finance Islamique - 25 juin 2009 - FORMATEX - Nouveaux programmes de formation.
http://cgi.do07.net/online.asp?l=864-249311-10641-733f247b

Développer la capacité d'accueil de la finance islamique, en comblant le retard pris par rapport à Londres, et en faisant ainsi de Paris la première «place financière islamique d'Europe».
http://www.lesechos.fr/info/analyses/4873792-la-finance-islamique-en-france.htm

"Islangels, pour une finance éthique". Nadia Moulaï.
http://businessbondyblog.20minutes-blogs.fr/archive/2009/05/25/islangels-pour-une-finance-ethique.html

Londres : la première banque islamique d'Europe.
http://www.saphirnews.com/La-premiere-banque-islamique-d-Europe_a994.html

Commission Paris EUROPLACE « Finance Islamique ».
http://www.paris-europlace.net/files/doc309772.pdf

10 propositions pour attirer 100 milliards d'euros d'épargne ».
http://www.paris-europlace.net/files/doc137647.pdf

Le prêt à intérêt, la Riba.
http://www.dfcg.com/desktopdefault.aspx?tabid=105

Les textes lancés par l'administration et l'AN:
- 17 /7/2007 : note de l'AMF autorisant les OPCVM à recourir à des critères extra-financiers (religieux).

- 12/12/2008 : publication de 2 fiches doctrinales par l'administration fiscale concernant la neutralité fiscale des opérations de Surabaha et déductibilité fiscale de la rémunération versée au titre des Sukuk.

- 25/2/2009 : publication dans le Bulletin officiel des impôts d'une instruction fiscale concernant les régimes applicables aux opérations de Murabaha et aux Sukuk.
http://www.financeislamiquefrance.fr/useruploads/files/une_impots_fif.pdf

- 18/3/2009 : amendement déposé par le sénateur Philippe Marini qui modifie le Code civil et le régime de la fiducie afin de faciliter l'émission des Sukuk.
http://www.financeislamiquefrance.fr/useruploads/files/une_marini.pdf

Lecture :
Banques Islamiques : la problématique de la mise en place des co-financements. Banque Magazine n° 657/Avril 2004, par Pascal Grangereau (AFD) et Mehdi Haroun
(Cabinet Herbert Smith).

FT Comments : US helps sukuk bounce back.

2009-2014 Mobile Industry Outlook

1/ The global mobile broadband network : a remedy against crisis ?

In a letter to the G20 summit, 25 telcos including Nokia, Ericsson, Orange and AT&T, pearheaded by the GSMA put the case that they could increase worldwide GDP by three or four per cent by 2014, in return for the right allocation of broadcast spectrum, and the loosening of industry regulation.

The GSMA is planning to invest $550 billion over the next five years and urges world leaders to “endorse an ambitious private sector initiative to build new infrastructure for the digital economy, which will have measurable benefits to societies across the world.”

• The CEOs estimate that up to 25 million jobs could be created world-wide, financed by private capital.
• Michael O’Hara, the GSMA chief marketing officer expects to be able to connect 2.4 billion people by mobile by 2013.
• He estimated that there are currently 200-300 million users accessing the internet by mobile.
  

2/ Mobile broadband to be worth $137 billion by 2014

Newly released mobile broadband forecasts by global advisory and consulting firm Ovum, show that users accessing the Internet via mobile broadband enabled laptops and handsets will generate revenues of $137 billion globally in 2014, over 450% more than in 2008.

Users of mobile broadband services (3G and 3G+ technologies) will grow from 181 million in 2008 to over 2 billion in 2014, growth of 1024% .

In 2014 Ovum forecasts that there will be 258 million users worldwide accessing mobile broadband services through laptops, which are connected via USB modems, datacards or have embedded mobile modules.

• Ovum forecasts that handset users will grow from a base of 158 million in 2008 to almost 1.8 billion in 2014.
• 40% of total mobile broadband laptop users will come from Asia Pacific in 2014.
  
• In China, there will be 52.5 million laptop users versus 325 million handset users, a ratio of 6:1.
  

However, even in mature markets such as Western Europe, the slowest growing region between 2008 and 2014, user growth in laptop access over the next five years is set to reach 747%, and 918% in handset access.

3/ But revenues will grow slower than users

However, operators will need to content themselves with the fact that user growth will be far faster than revenue growth, meaning more users and more data traffic, but declining average revenues per user (ARPUs).

Several factors help explain this erosion:

• The adoption of mobile broadband laptop access into increasingly less wealthy segments of emerging markets.
• The introduction of prepaid tariffs driving adoption in mature mobile and fixed broadband markets, which boosts users but dilutes ARPU.
• Increasing competition for mobile broadband access driving prices lower.

Emergence of a New Middle East Alliance

While U.S. President Barack Obama makes history in Cairo this week, a new regional grouping is taking shape in the northern part of the Middle East which could turn out to be equally significant.

Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria are developing trade, energy and security ties which signal a common will to shape their national destinies free from external – and especially Western — dictation. What are the factors driving this new grouping? They are numerous, and mostly specific to each country.

Turkey – having faced disagreements and disappointments with the U.S. (over the Iraq war), with the European Union (over the slow pace of accession negotiations) and with Israel (over the Palestine question) — has developed an ambitious regional policy towards its Arab and Islamic neighbours.

Turkey’s trade with Iran, which was a mere $1bn in 2000 rose to $10bn in 2008, and is projected to double to $20bn in the not too distant future. Turkey is planning to invest $12bn in Iran’s South Pars gas field – a policy strikingly at variance with the call by Israel and its American friends for additional sanctions against Iran. Some one million Iranian tourists visit Turkey each year, and millions more visit Iraq, especially Kerbala, the place where Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was martyred in 680. His tomb is the Shi‘is holiest shrine.

Syria’s strategic partnership with Iran is now 30 years old, and shows no sign of waning. The Tehran-Damascus-Hizballah axis is a geopolitical fact of life in the region and was widely seen, during in the Bush years, as the main obstacle to U.S.-Israeli hegemony. In contrast to his predecessor, Obama is now seeking to reach out to both Iran and Syria, but he is apparently not yet ready to recognise that Hizballah is an unavoidable actor on the Lebanese scene. If Obama’s ambitious Middle East peace plans are to be realised, a U.S. dialogue with both Hizballah and Hamas cannot be long delayed.

Syria’s relations with Turkey – strained almost to the point of war in 1998 over Syria’s backing of the Kurdish PKK leader, Abdallah Ocalan — have improved dramatically. Two-way trade is flourishing. A straw in the wind was the recent Turkish decision to increase the flow of Euphrates water to Syria’s north-east, which has been badly hit by drought.

Syrian-Iraqi relations, marked by extreme hostility during Saddam Hussein’s rule, have also greatly improved. Last April, Syria’s Prime Minister Muhammad Naji Otri signed a wide-ranging agreement in Baghdad establishing a free trade zone and providing for cooperation in energy and education. Syria is to participate in the rehabilitation of the Kirkuk to Banias oil pipeline which passes through Syrian territory. Syria’s port at Latakia is to be expanded and road links to Iraq improved, to provide transit facilities for Iraq’s import- export trade. A train carrying 800 tons of steel left the Syrian port of Tartous on 30 May for Baghdad, the first rail freight trip between the two countries in decades.

Iran, Turkey, and Syria all have a stake in Iraq’s future. Iran would clearly like Iraq to be a friendly neighbour under continued Shi‘i leadership. It wants Iraq to revive, but never again to be so powerful as to pose a threat as deadly as Saddam Hussein’s. Memories of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war are still too recent. Iran would probably prefer Iraq to develop into a federal state, and therefore relatively weak, rather than a strong unitary state. There are, however, no illusions in Tehran that Iraq, a major Arab country with a strong nationalist tradition, will ever consent to be an Iranian puppet.

Whoever wins the Iranian presidential elections on 12 June – whether it is the conservative incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or his principal challenger, former premier Mir-Hussein Mousavi, a ‘moderate’ conservative backed by the main reformist parties – the main lines of Iran’s external policy are unlikely to change: close ties with Syria, Iraq and Turkey; opposition to Sunni extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan; support for Hizballah and the Palestinians; and continued uranium enrichment.

What sort of Iraq, its neighbours wonder, will emerge from the slaughter, destruction and chaos of the past six years? Can a new regional balance be reached now that Iraq is again able to assert its national interests?

It seems clear that Iraq has turned a corner. Violent deaths in May, at about 165, were among the lowest for any month since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. Security is gradually returning, although still marred by horrendous suicide bombings. The Iraqi security forces – army, police, and intelligence — are steadily improving in size and efficiency. The recent conclusion of a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States — with firm deadlines for the withdrawal of American armed forces — was an important expression of Iraqi sovereignty regained.

But much remains to be done. Sunni-Shi‘i relations in Iraq remain tense, while Arab-Kurdish relations remain problematic; a hydrocarbons law has not yet been passed by parliament (although the central government has thought it best to turn a blind eye to the start of oil exports from the Kurdish region to Turkey.)

War of Necessity, War of Choice, a recent book by Richard Haas contrasts the 1990 war to free Kuwait with the 2003 war to overthrow Saddam Hussein. The first, he argues was a war of necessity, the second a war of choice — and a very bad choice at that. It had a catastrophic impact on America’s armed forces, on its finances and its reputation. The Iraq war killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, displaced millions, shattered the country’s infrastructure, released sectarian demons, and upset the regional balance to Iran’s great benefit.

Haas, a former senior American official, is now head of the prestigious New York–based Council on Foreign Relations. His book makes clear that Saddam’s alleged possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction was not the real motive for war. Pressure to attack Iraq came essentially from the civilian leadership at the Pentagon – especially from the then deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz – and from other neo-cons in Vice-President Dick Cheney’s office, whose geopolitical fantasy was to overthrow the main Arab regimes, as well as the mullahs in Iran, and restructure the entire area, so as to make it safe for Israel.

The neo-cons’ opportunity came because of America’s perceived need, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, to send a big message to the Arab world about U.S. military power. Haas’ book is likely to revive the debate about the role of Israel’s friends in Washington in pushing the U.S. into war in Iraq. It will provide Barack Obama with ammunition to resist Israeli pressure to attack Iran.

The grouping of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria may not yet be a full-fledged alliance, but numerous common interests are pulling the four states in that direction. Not least is a concern about possible Israeli aggression – directed against Iran and Syria – and of continued uncertainty about the future course of American policy.

From Patrick Seale,

Private sector involvement in infrastructure is hindered by politics, credit markets, uncertain returns

mergermarket.com > editorial > detail

Private sector involvement in infrastructure is hindered by politics, credit markets, uncertain returns

Turkey the winner in Gulf's investment hunt

September 1, 2008, EBRU TUNCAY, Referans Gazetesi.

As the increase in oil prices continue to help boost the income of Persian Gulf nations, Turkey is becoming a magnet for Gulf-based investors. Investors there have become nervous of developments in the United States and the West after Sept. 11, 2001, and carried out an “investment hunt” all over the world. Gulf-based investments can be seen in Turkey's finance, healthcare, real estate and media sectors, as Gulf-based capital investment volume has reached $30 billion.

According to Treasury data, 2,430 Gulf-based firms entered Turkey's market in the last eight years. While the number of the Gulf-based firms investing in Turkey was 1,014 in 2003, the figure climbed to 2,430 as of the end of the June this year. Following the acquisition of Türk Telekom by Oger Telekom in 2004, acceleration has been seen in Gulf-based investments. As the number of the Gulf capital-based investments in Turkey increased 140 percent within the last five years, there are 959 Iranian, 542 Iraqi, 247 Israeli, 157 Saudi Arabian, 121 Lebanese and 52 Kuwaiti companies operating in Turkey, while the number of companies from the United Arab Emirates increased to 60 and those from Jordan increased to seven, as of June.

Increasing interest:

While there was no Gulf-based capital invested in Turkey in 2003, investors have since displayed an increasing interest to invest. Treasury data shows that while there was a $43 million-worth Gulf-based capital inflow in 2004, the figure climbed to $1.67 billion in 2005 and to $1.78 billion in 2006. In the first six months of 2008, while U.S.- and Europe based investments seemed to dry up, Gulf- and Middle East-based capital inflow eased markets. The figure of Gulf- and Middle East-based investments in Turkey rose to 3,500 in July.

Investing in agriculture:

The recent global rise in food prices has caused the Gulf countries to accelerate their pursuit of investment in the agriculture sector. Countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia began to focus on agricultural investment projects in Turkey. Aiming to establish strategic food reserves, Saudi Arabia announced it was continuing to negotiate with Turkey, Ukraine, Pakistan, Egypt and Sudan to invest in strategic food products such as wheat, corn, rice, soybean and clover in at least a total of 100,000 square meters of fields. As such, Gulf nations, which manage $2 trillion worth of capital, are going to add a new sector to their investment portfolio in Turkey.

Three Gulf-based investors have launched $1 billion-worth of investment projects in Turkey, Philippines, India, Sudan and Mali. Gulf Finance House, operating energy investments in Qatar, Bahrain-based Ithmaar Group, and the UAE-based Abu Dhabi Investment House convened in Doha, the capital of Qatar, and agreed to invest in five fundamental areas in Turkey. These areas are listed as biomedicine, agriculture, stockbreeding, biofuels and agriculture technologies.

Gulf-based investors in Turkey:

-Kuwait Investment Authority has acquired Cevahir Business Center.

-Emaar Properties, owned by the Sheikh of Dubai El Maktoum, is planning a $5 billion worth investment in Turkey by 2010, focusing on healthcare, shopping malls, hotels and real estate areas.

-Abraaj Capital, an investment firm specializing in private equity investments in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, partnered with the Acıbadem Hospital and then the Numarine yacht company.

-Dubai Islamic Bank opened a representative office in Turkey.

-The International Investor, a Kuwaiti investment group, acquired 75 percent of the share of Docar, a Turkish car rental company, for $24 million. The company is planning to found a consumer financing company as well as looking into second-hand vehicle sales, financing and participant banking.

-The Arab Banking Corporation opened a representative office in Turkey. The firm may yet acquire a Turkish Bank.

-Oger Telecom acquired Türk Telekom for $6.5 billion.

-Kuwaiti Alshaya Group, which brought prominent global brands such as Starbucks Coffee, The Body Shop, Topman and Topshop, is planning a $100 million-worth investment in Turkey in three years.

-Kuwaiti International Leasing Investment founded Haliç Leasing with $5 million capital. The group is looking to operate as an investment bank in Turkey.

-Dubai Islamic Bank acquired MNG Bank.

-Dubai Multi Commodities Center, or DMCC, plans to enter Turkey's gold and tea markets.

-The National Commercial Bank, or NCB, the biggest bank of Saudi Arabia, acquired Türkiye Finans.

-Kuwaiti investment group The International Investor acquired Adabank.

2009: Le flux des capitaux arabes devrait se renforcer en Afrique

Sur la lancée d’une année 2008 remarquable, les investissements arabes sur le continent africain se poursuivront, attirés par un différentiel de rendement que la crise mondiale a rendu encore plus avantageux.

Par Fayçal Métaoui, Alger.


Le Maghreb a été, en 2008, la zone qui a attiré le plus d’investissements arabes en Afrique. Dans la région, l’Algérie talonne de près le Maroc qui, jusqu’à une date récente, attirait 80% des capitaux arabes au Maghreb. Selon l’Agence nationale de développement de l’investissement (ANDI), la globalité des investissements arabes en Algérie dépasse les 10 milliards de dollars. A Rabat, les investisseurs des pays du Golfe se sont organisés en forum, qui se réunit régulièrement. Les Emirats et le Koweït y ont créé le Moroccan Infrastructure Fund (MIF), un fonds d’investissement privé dédié aux infrastructures avec un engagement total de près de 100 millions de dollars. Le Consortium maroco-koweïtien de développement, CMKD, détenu par Kuwait Investment Authority, CDG, BP, et la Public Institution for Social Security koweitienne, vient de mettre en place un nouveau fonds d'investissement doté d'une enveloppe initiale de 7,1 milliards DH (629 millions d'euros).

Emaar Properties a investit dans cinq projets d'envergure dont le projet SAPHIRA pour l'aménagement de la corniche de Rabat pour 3,1 milliards de dollars, la réalisation d'un projet touristique à l'Oukaimden comprenant une station de ski et golf pour 1,4 milliard de dollars et dans un complexe résidentiel et touristique à Tanger pour 650 millions de dollars.

Pour l’aménagement de la vallée de l’oued Bouregreg, Dubaï International Properties (DIP) filiale du groupe Dubai Holding a injecté 2 milliards de dollars dans le projet AMWAJ. Abu Dhabi Investment House vient, de son côté, d’engager 400 millions de dollars pour construire une cité touristique à Marrakech, au sud du Maroc, baptisée Porta Moda.

L'Abu Dhabi Investment House prévoit de réaliser un projet similaire en Tunisie, un pays qui travaille pour séduire les investisseurs qataris. Dans le pays, plusieurs entreprises des Emirats construisent déjà des complexes hôteliers et des centres commerciaux sur la côte méditerranéenne. Le groupe saoudien MBI International a racheté l’hôtel de luxe Africa, situé en plein coeur de Tunis, pour 43 millions d’euros. Ce groupe, fortement présent au Moyen-Orient, envisage d’acquérir trois autres hôtels et un terrain de golf. L’opération de recrutement de cadres et de techniciens, lancée ces derniers jours par le groupe émirati Bukhatir, fait parler tout Tunis. Bukhatir va, pour un coût de 5 milliards de dollars, bâtir un immense projet Tunis Sports City et une cité résidentielle pour un montant similaire.

En 2009, cet intérêt des capitaux arabes pour le continent devrait se renforcer en raison de la crise financière internationale.

L’Afrique devrait en capter une part plus grande.

L’Afrique au sud du Sahara a connu la même arrivée significative des investisseurs arabes durant 2008. Ces investisseurs, peu intéressés par les matières premières, marquent déjà leur présence en Afrique de l’Ouest. A titre d’exemple, le groupe émirati Al-Qudra a dégagé 535 millions d’euros pour la construction de logements, d’une cimenterie et d’un complexe touristique au Sénégal. Dans ce pays, DP World gère déjà le Port de Dakar. En Côte d’Ivoire, le principal opérateur de téléphonie, Atlantique Telecom, est à moitié propriété de l’Emirati Etisalat.

Le groupe de télécommunication Zain (ex-Celtel), présent dans seize pays africains, a été acquis par le Koweïtien KSC. Zain, qui pèse 25 milliards de dollars de capitalisation boursière, a investi 10 milliards de dollars en Afrique. « Pour 2008, notre chiffre d’affaires devrait atteindre 7,5 milliards de dollars. L’Afrique a contribué à hauteur de 56% dans les revenus de Zain et a représenté 63% de la clientèle », a précisé à la presse un responsable du groupe, présent également au Moyen-Orient. En Afrique du Sud, la firme Dubaï Istithmar réalise le Victoria et Albert Waterfront, zone commerciale située sur le front de mer du Cap. Le montant du projet est estimé à 1 milliard de dollars.

Au Burkina Faso, des investisseurs arabes vont financer, avec la Banque africaine de développement (BAD), la construction d’un grand barrage à Samendeni, dont le coût s’élève à 180 millions de dollars. Le fonds saoudien Kingdom Zephyr Africa, propriété du prince Al Walid Ibn Talal, est entré dans le capital de plusieurs banques au Nigeria et au Ghana.

D’après l’agence Bloomberg, les pays du Golfe comptent investir plus de 150 milliards de dollars à l’étranger. L’Afrique peut augmenter sa part dans cette manne, surtout que les investissements directs étrangers (IDE) sont en augmentation. D’après la CNUCED, les IDE en Afrique ont atteint le niveau record de 53 milliards de dollars fin 2007. La Chine et l’Inde seront les principaux concurrents des pays du Golfe sur le continent en 2009. Et la Libye, qui va investir 10 milliards de dollars en Egypte d’ici 2010, n’entend pas rester à l’écart.

Des signes avant-coureurs d’une année 2009 active.

Les signes d’un renforcement en 2009 des flux arabes vers le Maghreb et l’Afrique sont déjà perceptibles en Algérie. Ces dernières semaines, Alger a connu plusieurs visites de hauts responsables des pays du Golfe, dont le prince héritier de l’Emirat arabe d’Abou Dhabi, Mohamed Ben Zayed Al Nahyane, et le président du Conseil des ministres du Qatar, Hamad Ben Jabar Al-Thani. La commission mixte algéro-koweïtienne s’est également réunie, réactivée après vingt ans d’arrêt. Décision a été prise d’ouvrir une ligne aérienne directe entre Alger et Koweït City. Le ministre koweïtien des Finances, Mostefa Djassem El-Chamali, a déclaré que son pays est disposé à lancer des projets dans les secteurs de l’agriculture, du tourisme et de la santé. A cette fin, il a annoncé la venue à Alger de plusieurs délégations au début 2009. En termes de montant de projets, le groupe émirati Emmaar doit engager 5 milliards de dollars dans un vaste projet de construction d’immeubles et d’hôtels haut standing sur la baie d’Alger.

Autre méga-projet à Alger annoncé à l’automne 2008, Dounia Parc, un ensemble de résidences de luxe, des hôtels, un centre d’affaires et des aires de loisir. La compagnie d’investissement Emirates International Investments Compagny (EIIC) doit financer ce projet à hauteur de 4,5 milliards de dollars. L’achèvement des travaux est prévu en 2012. Pour sa part, le groupe émirati DP World prendra en charge la gestion des terminaux à containers d’Alger et Djen Djen dans l'Est de l’Algérie, avec la promesse d’investir 108 millions de dollars pour leur développement.

The economics of solar power

Don’t be fooled by technological uncertainty and the continued importance of regulation; solar will become more economically attractive.

June 2008 • Peter Lorenz, Dickon Pinner, and Thomas Seitz

A new era for solar power is approaching. Long derided as uneconomic, it is gaining ground as technologies improve and the cost of traditional energy sources rises. Within three to seven years, unsubsidized solar power could cost no more to end customers in many markets, such as California and Italy, than electricity generated by fossil fuels or by renewable alternatives to solar. By 2020, global installed solar capacity could be 20 to 40 times its level today.

But make no mistake, the sector is still in its infancy. Even if all of the forecast growth occurs, solar energy will represent only about 3 to 6 percent of installed electricity generation capacity, or 1.5 to 3 percent of output in 2020. While solar power can certainly help to satisfy the desire for more electricity and lower carbon emissions, it is just one piece of the puzzle.

What’s more, solar power faces challenges that are common in emerging sectors. Several technologies are competing to win the lowest-cost laurels, and it’s not yet clear which is going to win. Rapid growth has created shortages and high margins for early players, such as the silicon refiners Dow Corning, REC Solar, and Wacker, as well as the component manufacturers First Solar, Q-Cells, and SunPower. Fueled by ever-increasing flows of new equity from venture capital and private-equity firms—$3.2 billion in 2007—innovative new competitors are entering the sector, and with them the potential for excess supply, falling prices, and deteriorating financial performance for some time.

With competition heating up, the companies building the equipment that generates solar power must relentlessly cut their costs by improving the processes they use to manufacture solar cells, investing in research and development, and moving production to low-cost countries. At the same time, they must secure access to raw materials without tying themselves to the wrong technology or partner.

The evolution of technology looms large for utilities as well. If they hesitate to undertake large long-term investments until the dust clears, they risk losing customers to players such as panel installers willing to put up and finance solar units on the roofs of buildings in return for a share of the savings the owners enjoy. As always in the utility sector, it will be essential to deploy smart regulatory strategies, which in some regions might mean including solar investments in the capital base used to set rates for consumers. Government policies will also continue to influence the sector’s development heavily. Deciding when and how to phase out subsidies will be critical for creating a vibrant, cost-competitive sector.

Even in the most favorable regions, solar power is still a few years away from true “grid parity”—the point when the price of solar electricity is on par with that of conventional sources of electricity on the power grid. The time frame is considerably longer in countries such as China and India, whose electricity needs will require large amounts of new generating capacity in the years ahead and whose cheap power from coal makes grid parity a more elusive goal.

The birth of a sector

The solar sector includes a diverse set of players, including the manufacturers of the silicon wafers, panels, and components used to generate much of today’s solar power, as well as the installers who put small-scale units on individual roofs, utilities and other operators setting up enormous solar collection systems in deserts, and start-up companies striving for breakthroughs such as lower-cost thin-film technologies. All are operating in a dynamic environment in which long-held assumptions—subsidies, the primacy of incumbents, and the predominance of silicon-wafer-based technology—are being eroded.

Beyond subsidies

Government subsidies have played a prominent role in the growth of solar power. Producers of renewable energy in the United States receive tax credits, for example, and Germany requires electricity distributors to pay above-market rates for electricity generated from renewable sources. Without such policies, the high cost of generating solar power would prevent it from competing with electricity from traditional fossil-fuel sources in most regions.

But the sector’s economics are changing. Over the last two decades, the cost of manufacturing and installing a photovoltaic solar-power system has decreased by about 20 percent with every doubling of installed capacity. The cost of generating electricity from conventional sources, by contrast, has been rising along with the price of natural gas, which heavily influences electricity prices in regions that have large numbers of gas-fired power plants. These regions include California, the Northeast, and Texas (in the United States), as well as Italy, Japan, and Spain.

As a result, solar power has been creeping toward cost competitiveness in some areas. California, for example, combines abundant sunshine with retail electricity prices that, partly as a result of the state’s policies, are among the highest in the United States—up to 36 cents per kilowatt-hour for residential users.1 Unsubsidized solar power costs 36 cents per kilowatt-hour. Support from the California Solar Initiative2 cuts the price customers pay to 27 cents. Rising natural-gas prices, state regulations aiming to limit greenhouse gas emissions, and the need to build more power plants to keep up with growing demand could push the cost of conventional electricity higher.

During the next three to seven years, solar energy’s unsubsidized cost to end customers should equal the cost of conventional electricity in parts of the United States (California and the Southwest) and in Italy, Japan, and Spain. These markets have in common relatively strong solar radiation (or insolation), high electricity prices, and supportive regulatory regimes that stimulate the solar-capacity growth needed to drive further cost reductions (Exhibit 1). These conditions set in motion a virtuous cycle: growing demand for solar power creates more opportunities for companies to reduce production costs by improving solar-cell designs and manufacturing processes, to introduce new solar technologies, and to enjoy lower prices from raw-material and component suppliers competing for market share.

We forecast global solar demand by estimating the payback period for customers in different countries and regions. (Payback estimates rest on projected system costs and power prices, as well as local sunlight and incentive schemes.) Our analysis suggests that by 2020 at least ten regions with strong sunlight will have reached grid parity, with the price of solar electricity falling from upward of 30 cents per kilowatt-hour to 12, or even less than 10, cents. From now until 2020, installed global solar capacity will grow by roughly 30 to 35 percent a year, from 10 gigawatts today to about 200 to 400 gigawatts3 (Exhibit 2), requiring capital investments of more than $500 billion. Exactly where within this range actual installed capacity falls will depend upon the evolution of solar costs, carbon costs, and power prices (which in turn are heavily influenced by natural gas prices). Even though this volume represents only 1.5 to 3 percent of global electricity output, the roughly 20 to 40 new gigawatts a year of installed solar capacity would provide about 10 to 20 percent of annual new power capacity over that period. This level of installed solar capacity would abate some 125 to 250 megatons of carbon dioxide—roughly 0.3 to 0.6 percent of global emissions in 2020.

Evolving technologies

Our demand and capacity forecasts assume continued improvement in solar-cell designs and materials but neither a radical breakthrough nor the emergence of a dominant technology. At present, three technologies—silicon-wafer-based and thin-film photovoltaics and concentrated solar thermal power—are competing for cost leadership. Each has its advantages for certain applications, but none holds the overall crown. Major innovations and shifts in the relative cost competitiveness of these technologies could occur.

Companies that use either of the current photovoltaic technologies, which generate electricity directly from light, are striving to reduce costs by making their systems more efficient. In power conversion, efficiency means the amount of electrical power generated by the solar radiation striking the surface of a photovoltaic cell in a given period of time. For each unit of power generated, more efficient systems require less raw material and a smaller solar-collection surface area, weigh less, and are cheaper to transport and install.

Silicon-wafer-based photovoltaics. Although 90 percent of installed solar capacity uses silicon-wafer-based photovoltaic technology, it faces two challenges that could create openings for competing approaches. For one thing, though it is well suited to space-constrained rooftop applications (because it is roughly twice as efficient as current thin-film photovoltaic technologies), the solar panels and their installation are costly: larger quantities of photovoltaic material (in this case, silicon) are required to make the panels than are to make thin-film photovoltaic solar cells.4 Second, companies are starting to approach the theoretical efficiency limit—31 percent—of a single-junction silicon-wafer-based photovoltaic cell; several now achieve efficiencies in the 20 to 23 percent range. To be sure, there is still room for improvement before the limit is reached, and clever engineering techniques (such as concentrating sunlight on solar cells or adding a number of junctions made of different materials to absorb a larger part of the light spectrum more efficiently) could extend it, though many of these ideas increase production costs.

Thin-film photovoltaics. The other important photovoltaic approach, thin-film technology,5 has been available for many years but only recently proved that it can reach sufficiently high efficiency levels (about 10 percent) at commercial production volumes. Thin film trades off lower efficiencies against a significantly lower use of materials—about 1 to 5 percent of the amount needed for silicon-wafer-based photovoltaics. The result is a cost structure roughly half that of wafer-based silicon. This technology also has significant headroom to extend the cost gap in the long term.

But challenges abound. The lower efficiency of thin-film modules6 means that they are currently best suited to large field installations and to large, flat rooftops. Furthermore, the longevity of these modules is uncertain; silicon-wafer-based photovoltaics, by contrast, maintain their output at high levels for more than 25 years. Of the most promising thin-film technologies, only one—cadmium telluride—has truly reached commercial scale, and some experts worry about the toxicity of cadmium and the availability of tellurium. A final complicating factor is that a new generation of nanoscale thin-film technologies now on the horizon could significantly increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of producing solar power.

Concentrated solar thermal power. The third major solar technology, concentrated solar thermal power,7 is the cheapest available option today but has two limitations. Photovoltaic systems can be installed close to customers, thereby reducing the expense of transmitting and distributing electricity. But concentrated solar thermal power systems require almost perfect solar conditions and vast quantities of open space, both often available only at a great distance from customers. In addition, the ability of concentrated solar thermal power to cut costs further may be limited, because it relies mostly on conventional devices such as pipes and reflectors, whose costs will probably fall less significantly than those of the materials used in semiconductor-based photovoltaics. Nonetheless, several European utilities now regard concentrated solar thermal power as the solar technology of choice.

The road ahead

The extent and speed of this emerging sector’s growth will depend on its ability to keep driving down the cost of solar power. No single player or set of players can make that happen on its own.

• The necessary technological breakthroughs will come from solar-component manufacturers, but rapid progress depends on robustly growing demand from end users, to whom many manufacturers have only limited access.

• Utilities have strong relationships with residential, commercial, and industrial customers and understand the economics of serving them. But these companies will have difficulty driving the penetration of solar power unless they have a much clearer sense of the cost potential of different solar technologies.

• In some regions, regulators can accelerate the move toward grid parity, as they did in California and Germany, but they can’t reduce the real cost of solar power. Poor regulation might even slow the fall in prices.

Although these considerations make it difficult to predict outcomes and to prescribe strategies, certain economic principles do apply.

Solar-component manufacturers

The fundamentals are clear for photovoltaic-component manufacturers that hope to remain competitive: there’s no escaping significant R&D investments to stimulate continued efficiency improvements, as well as operational excellence to drive down manufacturing costs. Furthermore, in view of the technological uncertainty, established silicon-wafer-based companies should hedge their bets by investing in advanced thin-film technologies.

Some manufacturers have considered establishing partnerships or vertically integrating—approaches that could give them access to supplies, customers, and financing but might also lock them into the wrong technology. To make the right trade-offs, the manufacturers of components for silicon-wafer-based and thin-film technologies should focus on fundamentals, such as manufacturing costs, efficiency improvements, and the movement of prices for raw materials.

Raw materials. Polysilicon is the main raw material for silicon-wafer-based solar-cell manufacturers, which now consume more of it than the semiconductor industry does. Over the last two years, shortages and price spikes have been the result.

High margins have encouraged incumbents to add capacity and have attracted new entrants. Many observers have therefore been predicting that global polysilicon production capacity will at least triple from 2005 to 2010, while our forecasts indicate that demand for the material will only double during the same period. This mismatch suggests that the spot price of polysilicon could drop from over $200 a kilogram to levels previously seen in the semiconductor industry—as little as $30 to $50. Of course, if global demand for silicon-based modules surged, or if announced capacity additions did not materialize or were delayed (due to cancelled projects, quality issues, or the sorts of engineering and construction delays that are currently prevalent in many other capital intensive industries), the price effect might be dampened significantly. Industry participants should therefore screen supply and demand developments continuously.

Production process technology. The way companies manufacture solar cells has the largest impact on the cells' efficiency and their cost. Many incumbents have invested heavily in developing proprietary manufacturing processes. Some start-up cell manufacturers, by contrast, buy entire manufacturing lines from equipment companies such as Applied Materials.

Cell manufacturers are valuable partners for equipment companies hoping to tap into the growth of the solar sector. The equipment companies need formal partnerships that will allow them to retain ownership of the intellectual property associated with their manufacturing processes—a difficult trick that these vendors tried (and failed) to pull off in the semiconductor sector. The same thing could happen again unless equipment providers can figure out how to make their offerings extremely cost competitive and difficult for operators to imitate or enhance.

Producing in low-cost regions. Many leading silicon-wafer-based photovoltaic solar companies are located in high-wage countries. These manufacturers produce cells that are typically more efficient than those produced in lower-wage countries; for example, many German and US cells achieve an efficiency of 20 percent or more, compared with 15 to 16 percent for Chinese ones. Yet countries like China and India will inevitably gain an overall cost advantage by developing the skills needed to produce more efficient cells. Companies in regions with high labor costs should therefore constantly monitor the benefits and risks of locating their next plant in an area that offers lower-cost labor and generous subsidies.

Utilities

Although the distributed nature of solar power might seem to clash with the utilities’ business model of centralized electricity generation, these companies do have assets in the solar era, starting with strong customer relationships. They are also in a good position to integrate electricity generated at large numbers of different locations (such as rooftops) into the existing network. Many utilities could use their advanced metering infrastructure to calculate the full value of solar power during peak times. One way of leveraging these assets would be to form partnerships with component manufacturers. Building profitable partnerships will require utilities to develop new skills, such as installing and managing solar-generation capacity, as well as deciding which solar technologies best suit their service territories.

The technology that currently seems most attractive for utilities is concentrated solar thermal power, because it involves centralized electricity generation—much as traditional coal, nuclear, and hydroelectric facilities do—and is today’s low-cost solar champion. Its long-term cost prospects, though, are less favorable than those of some emerging photovoltaic technologies, so choosing it now is in effect a strategic bet on how quickly relative costs and local subsidy environments will change.

While the natural tendency might be to postpone investments until the technology picture becomes clearer, sitting on the sidelines poses risks for the utilities. As the cost of solar energy decreases, the growing number of companies that will probably enter the business of installing solar equipment could cut off some utilities from their customers. Installers buy solar panels, mount them in homes and businesses, and then lease them in return for a stream of payments lower than prevailing electricity rates but still high enough to earn a healthy return on the panel investment. Since people who now pay the highest electricity rates would be the most likely to switch, utilities would lose their most valuable customers.

One way of coping would be to forge relationships with solar-cell and -module manufacturers that could help utilities claim a portion of this emerging business while they gain experience integrating distributed generating capacity into the grid. It should be in their interest to strike up such partnerships quickly, before disintermediation reduces their attractiveness as partners, since savvy manufacturers will pit them against installers in a quest for the most favorable financial arrangements.

Another approach for the utilities involves regulatory strategy—for example, they could try to persuade regulators to add solar investments to their rate base (the expenses and capital investments that regulators use to calculate fair retail electricity prices). Although such a readjustment would raise electricity rates, utilities could argue that the long-term benefits would be significant: increasing their reserve margins while making conventional power generation investments unnecessary, dampening future rate increases from rising fuel prices, meeting environmental targets, and accelerating the decline in solar-power costs. This approach yields a fixed return on capital that might ultimately be lower than what would be possible if utilities bet successfully on the right technologies, but it also mitigates investment risk.

Governments and regulators

The decisions of regulators will affect not only utilities but also the entire solar sector. During the march to grid parity, well-understood and targeted subsidies will be critical to build the confidence of investors and attract capital. The impact of government policies in rapidly growing emerging markets such as China and India will be particularly important for the pace of the sector’s growth. Our base-case forecasts do not include aggressive growth in these markets. But if China installed rooftop solar panels on, say, 13 percent of all new construction in 2020, the country would add 15 gigawatts of solar capacity a year, about 40 percent of the world’s annual increase. Similarly, government policies encouraging the use of electric vehicles may also accelerate the growth of solar demand.

While the optimal regulations for different countries will vary considerably, all governments should focus on a few major factors.

* Clarify objectives. Before establishing policies, regulators must decide whether they want to increase energy security, lower carbon emissions, build a high-tech manufacturing cluster, create jobs for installers, or any combination of these goals. Once regulators have identified and prioritized them, appropriate policies can be developed to stimulate specific parts of the sector.
* Reward production, not capacity. Subsidizing capacity rewards all solar-power installations at the same rate, regardless of their cost-efficiency. Production-based programs, which reward companies only for generating electricity, create incentives to reduce costs and to focus initially on attractive areas with high levels of sunlight.
* Phase out subsidies carefully. In virtually every region of the world, solar subsidies are still crucial; in 2005, when they expired in Japan, capacity growth declined there significantly. But since solar power could eventually be cost competitive with conventional sources, regulators must adjust incentive structures over time and phase them out when grid parity is reached.

Solar energy is becoming more economically attractive. Component manufacturers, utilities, and regulators are making decisions now that will determine the scale, structure, and performance of this new sector. Technological uncertainty makes the choices difficult, but the opportunities—for companies to profit and for the world to become less dependent on fossil fuels—are significant.


About the Authors
Peter Lorenz is an associate principal in McKinsey’s Houston office, where Thomas Seitz is a director; Dickon Pinner is a principal in the San Francisco office.

The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of their colleagues Joel Conkling, Stefan Heck, and Christer Tryggestad.

Notes
1. Residential retail electricity prices in California increase with the end customer’s usage.

2. The California Solar Initiative provides $3.1 billion of subsidies to install 3 gigawatts, or 3 billion watts, of capacity by 2017.

3. One gigawatt = one billion watts. As a point of reference, the capacity of a typical coal plant is about 0.6 to 1.0 gigawatts.

4. Silicon absorbs light less well than the materials currently used to make thin-film photovoltaic solar cells, so they must be thicker to absorb the same amount of light.

5. Leaving aside nanoscale materials and technologies, there are currently four promising thin-film technologies: cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium diselenide, amorphous silicon, and thin-film polysilicon.

6. A module is a collection of cells that have been connected together to generate higher current and voltages.

7. Photovoltaic systems use semiconductor materials to convert light directly into electricity. Concentrated solar thermal power uses mirrors to reflect sunlight onto fluids, which heat up and then pass through a heat exchanger to generate steam and drive a turbine. Such technologies include parabolic troughs, power towers, linear Fresnel reflectors, dish Stirling systems, and solar chimneys.

This article has been updated to reflect factual corrections provided by the authors.

© Copyright 1992-2008 McKinsey & Company

Méritocratiquement Vôtre!

Promu grâce à la méritocratie, l'ENA et les différents concours externes de la fonction publique, certains fonctionnaires ont transformé l'administration en un corps parasitaire, sclérosé et sclérosant, mu par des intérêts privés avant de répondre à sa fonction première, servir l'intérêt général.

L'Administration qui devrait être la forme la plus accomplie de l'Etat moderne et le rempart absolu contre l'arbitraire, se retrouve aujourd'hui piégée par ses propres incohérences. On demande aux entreprises privées de s'adapter à la nouvelle donne pour faire face à la mondialisation, améliorer leur compétitivité, former leur personnel, leur apprendre à gérer les crises, obligations de résultat, techniques de scoring... Qu'en est-il de l'Administration?

Qu'a t-elle fait pour s'adapter, faire face, améliorer les services qu'elle rend pour l'intérêt général et faciliter et non entraver la vie de chaque citoyen? Club privé des few happy, qui campent sur leurs diplômes, seul preuve de leur éligibilité aux fonctions qu'ils occupent, mais qu'en est-il de leurs compétences réelles, jusqu'où iront-ils pour reconnaître qu'il ne suffit pas de fixer des objectifs mais qu'il faut également obéir aux règles morales et éthiques pour les atteindre comme n'importe quel citoyen.

Ne dit-on pas " objectives, milestones and deliverables" pour les privés. Sans aller jusqu'à la description de Marx (déjà) "corps parasitaire soumis au règne de l'incompétence", ni citer les seuils d'incompétence largement dépassés du Principe de Peter que d'autres ont largement analysé, je dis stop à la gangrène qui nous envahit, luttons tous ensemble pour que la France avance plus vite et commençons par dénoncer tous les abus, ceux des fonctionnaires qui se cachent derrière l'Administration pour servir uniquement leur propre intérêt à moindre frais, statut spécial oblige, ceux qui se cachent derrière les "protocoles" et procédures pour justifier le déshumanisme régnant, ceux qui confondent règlementation et autoritarisme... Exemples à l'appui...

Quelle place pour les réseaux sociaux en entreprise ? par Alain Bastide, INDEXEL.

Recruter, promouvoir sa marque, favoriser le partage de connaissances... Bien utilisés, les réseaux sociaux en ligne ont de vrais débouchés en entreprise. Un point complet sur leur usage professionnel avec deux experts.

Bien que les réseaux sociaux aient conquis le grand public, une majorité de dirigeants ne perçoit toujours pas l'enjeu de ces outils dans un contexte professionnel. Plus de la moitié redoute même une baisse de la productivité de leurs employés et certaines entreprises craignent d'augmenter leur turnover. "Les directions ont très peur de décentraliser les moyens de communication car elles perdent alors du pouvoir au profit des salariés", estime Cédric Tremintin, responsable du pôle portail collaboratif chez Umanis.

Pourtant, utilisés à bon escient, les réseaux sociaux peuvent être très utiles à l'entreprise. Ils permettent de partager les connaissances des salariés en interne, de donner une image positive de l'entreprise au sein des "hubs" professionnels, de recruter, et même de promouvoir les produits au catalogue. Pour réussir le déploiement de ces outils, "le plus important est de bien définir le besoin - communiquer, recruter, vendre, faciliter la circulation du savoir en interne, etc. - afin de choisir l'outil adapté et de bien positionner le projet en termes de communication interne", explique Vincent Godard, spécialiste des réseaux sociaux au sein de Breek.

Des outils différents suivant les usages.

Chaque réseau social est très différent. LinkedIn est plutôt un réseau utile pour recruter à l'international tandis que les groupes d'experts français sont surtout actifs sur Viadeo. Mais rien ne vaut Facebook pour promouvoir un produit ou un service grand public (notre article). Certains réseaux sociaux sont également très utiles pour diffuser rapidement une information ou être alerté. Les entreprises peuvent reproduire ces mécanismes en interne : réseaux d'experts, alertes, etc.

"D'un point de vue purement fonctionnel, les réseaux sociaux n'apportent pas grand chose de plus que les outils déjà en place", estime Vincent Godard. "Mais contrairement aux intranets ou aux portails collaboratifs qui sont vécus comme des outils lourds et imposés, les réseaux sociaux répondent parfaitement au mode de fonctionnement des utilisateurs. Calqués sur la vie de tous les jours, ils sont souples, ludiques, et très faciles à utiliser", explique le spécialiste.

Les réseaux sociaux en ligne réalisent effectivement une synthèse intéressante entre l'annuaire, le trombinoscope de l'entreprise, l'intranet, les espaces de partage et la messagerie instantanée. "Les réseaux sociaux sont très souvent une porte d'entrée vers des projets d'intégration de portail collaboratif. Ces nouveaux intranets incluent des fonctionnalités de réseau social, de travail collaboratif, de gestion de la connaissance et des workflows métier", confirme Cédric Tremintin.

Partage des connaissances entre collaborateurs.

Le partage des connaissances est le sujet qui intéresse le plus les entreprises. "Les grands groupes ont beaucoup à gagner à utiliser intelligemment les réseaux sociaux dans ce domaine", estime Cédric Tremintin. L'entreprise peut suivre plusieurs approches en parallèle pour tirer le meilleur parti de ces outils. Pour gérer les connaissances et animer les relations entre ses collaborateurs, elle peut mettre en place de nouvelles solutions de collaboration interne. Les outils qui répondent à ces aspirations sont nombreux. De Lotus Notes (IBM) à SharePoint Portal Server (Microsoft), ils convergent tous vers le modèles des réseaux sociaux.

Le déploiement d'un seul outil en interne n'est cependant pas toujours suffisant. Les réseaux sociaux "publics" tels que Facebook, LinkedIn ou Viadeo répondent à des besoins professionnels spécifiques : recrutement d'experts, valorisation de l'entreprise sur un hub professionnel, etc. "Il faut donc recenser l'ensemble des besoins pour déterminer si un seul outil peut suffire ou s'il vaut mieux spécialiser chaque usage", conseille Vincent Godard. Typiquement, le recrutement d'experts peut s'effectuer à la fois dans Viadeo et dans LinkedIn. Le premier ayant une nette connotation nationale et le second étant plus ouvert à l'international. Mais la valorisation de l'entreprise au sein d'un hub est, pour l'heure, plus efficace au sein de Viadeo. Et pour toucher des consommateurs, Facebook est le plus approprié.

Role of Social Media in Obama's Election : CHANGE HAS COME

"...If there's anybody out there who still questions ... the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer" : for sure, with this so exciting 2008 presidential campaign, Social Media have proved to be so powerful and I think, will shape the future of major campaigns forever.

Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Myspace, YouTube, community blogs, Flickr, FriendFeed, etc. have been largely used in this 2008 election especially by Obama's team who hired the co-founder of Facebook.

I was so impressed when I discovered the voteforchange site : videos, widgets, events, planning, merchandising products, fundraising tools, volunteering,...It was an "OBAMA EVERYWHERE" social media campaign.

Good strategy if we see the record number of voters especially within young and first time voters- 2.2 million more young people voted on Tuesday than did in 2004, accounting for 18 percent of the electorate according to the Huffington Post-, who are big users of web 2.0 technology and social media. So the issue is: Did these voters been more involved in this election because of social media and the candidates use of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube?

Well, the rally seem to have reached almost every corner of the world if we see the Obamania and surge of hysteria sweeping the 2008 presidential nomination.

How about the Numbers? The social media stats speak by themselves:

YouTube registered 19,369,254 viewers for the OBAMA's official site; 13,076,047 viewers for the Yes we Can music video by Will I Am.

In the YouChoose channel of You Tube reserved for presidential campaigning launched a while ago, Obama largely outpaced the other channels with 106,451,689 views on the Obama channel compared to 25,470,489 for John McCain.

On Facebook, Obama has 2,864,921 supporters not including all the specific groups like NY for Obama or Wall Street for Obama groups and all the other independent contents. About 5 million Facebook users have voted. Five days before the election all people who added the Donate their status to remind everyone to vote application, where asked to invite their network of friends; and a voters countdown was added to their profile to keep them updated. It was the largest online rally ever : In just under 5 days, 1,745,754 people sent out 4,919,071 status messages. the Vote for Barack Obama rally registered 1,190,903 participants and 70% of total users, John McCain rallied 370,802 participants with 21% of users.

On Twitter: Obama has 127,370 following and 123,439 followers, McCain only 4,956.

These numbers are simply staggering. So, Social medias and the web 2.0 are also the big winners of this campaign and even the other media like CNN with the iReport, a user-generated site; the Huffington Post, or BBC World News followed the trend using all kind of social media tools to connect voters and rally them to vote.

2.0 WORDS were also invented for this occasion like PEWS -for Post Election withdrawal Syndrom-; PEST -for Post Election Selection Trauma; Election Erection; or the Barack Obama urban dictionary definition as a "rising star" or "a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy fused into a single body"; etc.

You can also watch the Reuters Video : Social Media's big win on Reuters on the subject.

Flickr Election Night 11-04-08.

Tuesday's Second Biggest Winner: Democracy : Over 133 million people turned out to vote on Tuesday -- 11 million more than voted in 2004 - producing the highest turnout rate in 44 years with 62.5 percent.

Excellent post from the Harvard Business Review excellent post : Barack Obama's Edge-Based Organization posted by John Sviokla on November 11, 2008.

Under Obama, Web Would Be the Way, Washington Post

The White House Goes Web, IT World

OBAMA's "YES WE CAN" by WILL I AM (BLACK EYED PEAS)

CONGRATULATIONS Mister PRESIDENT!!!

Lyrics: Yes We can

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --

Yes. We. Can.

Communication de crise : comment annoncer au peuple la récession, cacophonie entre litote, pléonasme et apagogie.

Pendant que l'on passe par une phase de (sic) "deleveraging" et un (re-sic) ralentissement "extraordinairement fort" de l'économie, Londres inaugure un énorme centre commercial.

Je suggère Festino : aucun P n'est M, or quelque S est M, donc quelque S n'est pas P.

Le peuple comprendra à quoi s'en tenir.

Depuis l’été 2007 et le déclenchement de la crise des «subprimes», la ministre de l’Economie Christine Lagarde tient fermement la barre du navire France, assurant à ses passagers que tout va globalement bien et que la crise financière épargnera la France. Malgré quelques périodes de doutes, en février-mars et en septembre 2008.

20minutes.fr a recensé un an de déclarations de la ministre de l’Economie. No comment.


17 août 2007, conférence de presse
«L’économie française repose sur des fondamentaux qui sont solides [...] Je ne conçois pas aujourd'hui de contamination à l'économie mondiale»

17 août 2007, dans «Le Parisien»
«Ce n'est pas un krach [...] Nous assistons aujourd'hui à un ajustement [...] une correction financière, certes brutale mais prévisible»

5 novembre 2007 sur «Europe 1»
«La crise de l'immobilier et la crise financière ne semblent pas avoir d'effet sur l'économie réelle américaine. Il n'y a pas de raisons de penser qu'on aura un effet sur l'économie réelle française»

18 décembre 2007, sur «France-Inter»
«Nous aurons certainement des effets collatéraux, à mon sens mesurés. [Il est] largement excessif de conclure que nous sommes à la veille d'une grande crise économique»

22 janvier 2008, sur «Europe 1»
«[Un krach?] Il faut éviter les mots spectres, les mots angoisse comme ça [...] Je crois qu'on a observé une correction brutale sur les marchés asiatiques, européens dans la foulée»

10 février 2008, au G7 au Japon
«Nous ne prévoyons pas de récession dans le cas de l'Europe»

11 février 2008, dans «Le Figaro»
«Si les États-Unis devaient éviter la récession, leur croissance sera toutefois très faible. L'Europe sera elle aussi touchée».

26 mars 2008, conférence de presse
«L'environnement international est difficile […] La volatilité actuelle des taux de change et le niveau du dollar sont un risque pour notre croissance»

1er juillet 2008, dans «Le Figaro»
A l'orée de la présidence française de l'UE, Lagarde veut rester comme le ministre français ayant permis à l'Europe «d'éviter la crise financière d'après»

15 septembre 2008, sur «Europe 1»
«L'ensemble des autorités bancaires, le Trésor, les banques centrales se sont concertées pendant plusieurs jours, les mécanismes sont en place, il n'y a pas panique à bord»

16 septembre 2008, conférence de presse
«[La crise aura] des effets sur l'emploi et sur le chômage [pour l’heure] ni avérés ni chiffrables»

20 septembre 2008, conférence de presse
«Le gros risque systémique qui était craint par les places financières et qui les a amenées à beaucoup baisser au cours des derniers jours est derrière nous»

21 septembre 2008 sur «Europe 1»
«Je ne suis pas euphorique, pas plus que je n'étais catastrophiste […] La crise est loin d'être finie»

Qui a déjà lu une charte de respect des données personnelles sur Internet ?

Lost in the Fine Print: It Would Take a Week to Read All Your Privacy Policies - Post I.T. - A Technology Blog From The Washington Post - (washingtonpost.com)

Lost in the Fine Print: It Would Take a Week to Read All Your Privacy Policies

It would take the average American about 42 hours -- an entire work week -- to read the online privacy policies for the Web-sites they encounter each year, according to new research being presented this weekend.

The finding out of Carnegie Mellon University undermines the arguments of Web companies who say that federal online privacy legislation is unnecessary because Internet firms will compete to ensure privacy.

For such competition to work, people would have to read and understand privacy policies.

"What we're seeing is that's not going to happen," said Lorrie Faith Cranor, a Carnegie Mellon computer science professor who did the research with PhD student Aleecia McDonald. "We don't believe for a minute that anyone is going to spend that much time reading privacy policies. Anyone who taken time to read one privacy policy, knows how time consuming it is and they say, 'Never again'."

The Federal Trade Commission is working on voluntary guidelines for Internet privacy, and Google, Microsoft and other companies have argued that self-regulation and competition is the course to follow. But critics have argued that legislation is necessary because so many consumers are uninformed.

Using figures from Nielsen Online, McDonald and Cranor estimated that the average American comes across 253 Web-sites a year. It takes about 10 minutes to read the typical 2,500 word privacy policy for a Web-site. That yields an annual required reading time of 42 hours, according to the research.

By Peter Whoriskey | September 26, 2008; 12:12 PM ET

Le textile et l'habillement en France de janvier à juillet 2008

FashionMag.com France - Le site d'information des professionnels de la mode, du luxe et de la beauté

Le textile et l'habillement en France de janvier à juillet 2008

Les industries du textile et de l'habillement réagissent différemment à la crise

TEXTILE

Les mois se suivent et se ressemblent hélas pour l’industrie textile. La plupart des indicateurs économiques sont au rouge, à commencer par la production qui connaît un net repli (- 9,6 % sur la période janvier-août 2008). L’indice de chiffres d’affaires subi un moindre recul : il cède néanmoins 3,7 % sur janvier-juillet 2008 par rapport à la même période de 2007. Il est vrai que les débouchés tant intérieurs qu’extérieurs se contractent sous l’effet de la dégradation de la conjoncture économique. Dans leur ensemble, les exportations de textiles diminuent de 9 % sur la période janvier-juillet 2008. Les livraisons vers l’Union européenne sont pour beaucoup dans ce recul, puisqu’elles chutent de 12 %. Mais, à vrai dire, rares sont les zones où la France conquiert des parts de marché : les exportations vers les pays du Bassin méditerranéen reculent de 1 %, celles vers l’Asie de 15 %. On notera par contraste le dynamisme de la demande russe (+ 19 %) et suisse (+ 6 %).




Du côté des importations françaises de textiles, la conjoncture est là aussi morose : elles sont en recul de 7 %. Cette diminution provient à la fois d’une baisse des livraisons en provenance de l’UE (- 7 %) et de celles issues du reste du monde (- 7 %).

- Exportations textiles France
Janvier à juillet 2008 : 3 208 millions d'euros, dont 1 984 millions à destination de l'Union européenne et 1 224 millions à destination des autres pays..

- Importations textiles France
Janvier à juillet 2008 : 3 705 millions d'euros, dont 2 397 millions en provenance de l'Union européenne et 1 308 millions en provenance des autres pays.


HABILLEMENT


Le secteur de l’habillement confirme sa meilleure santé. En effet, si la production connaît une forte diminution (- 15,8 % de janvier à août 2008), les chiffres d’affaires restent bien orientés : + 2,3 % sur janvier-juillet 2008 selon l’INSEE. Le marché français de l’habillement connaît une baisse de régime depuis le mois de mars, aussi les entreprises ont du compenser par l’export la diminution de la demande. Les ventes à l’étranger ont progressé à la fois vers les pays de l’Union européenne (+ 1 %) et au-delà (+ 3 %). Les livraisons sont bien orientées vers la plupart de nos partenaires européens, avec des croissances modestes. A l’inverse, les exportations vers les autres pays sont moins importantes en volume mais connaissent une plus forte croissance, notamment vers la Russie, l’Arabie Saoudite et les Emirats Arabes Unis.




Les importations d’habillement sont en légère croissance par rapport à 2007 (+ 1 %). On constate néanmoins un recul des importations provenant de l’Union européenne (- 7 %), au profit des productions asiatiques (+ 5 %), du Pourtour méditerranéen (+ 5 %) et des Balkans occidentaux (+ 7 %).




- Exportations habillement France
Janvier à juillet 2008 : 4 334 millions d'euros, dont 3 028 millions à destination de l'Union européenne et 1 306 millions à destination des autres pays.

- Importations habillement France
Janvier à juillet 2008: 8 652 millions d'euros, dont 2569 millions en provenance de l'Union européenne et 6 083 millions en provenance des autres pays.

Selling Your Professional Service when You are an Independent contractors

I was thinking this morning that I have too much work on the pipeline, so I have to stay focused in order not to get off-track.

So how to optimize my productivity while being a freelance expert, an independent contractor and:
-being based in France but working on international project development mainly in the Middle East and North Africa region within the EU funded programs (EUROMED);
-setting up institutional partnership between clusters, trade organizations, etc;
-promoting inward and outward investments;
-raising capital for all these projects; and
-keep networking -without siddling up-, staying informed, tracking market trends, unvealing niches, attending conferences and meetings...

On the other hand, I naturally like being helpful (have to sort it out with my psy), unfortunately I am not careful enough in business deals even when I do my due diligence. So many different people from so many different business culture, who are sometimes more cynical than I do, or more focused on the petty details and less on the goals I am trying to achieve.

The issue is do I have to:
-start hiring people and definitely learn how to delegate. In this case, I will need investors for myself; or
-find the right organization which would be interested in such a portfolio and at the same time give me the independence I need to keep growing. Already tried that last year, found only one answer: overqualified for our company;
-give up all projects and stay focused on only a main one. So which one is worth it?

I was reading Glenn Porter's recommendation on "how to sell your professional service". The questions were the answers but Porter's recommendations are also interesting even though he is acting locally.

Question: What is the key to selling professional services? For example, how do you differentiate yourself from other boutique bankers?

Answer: You can never forget people sell to people. It is all about reputation and relationships.

We are coming into a time when the economy will continually fracture and subdivide. This means we will become a society of independent contractors.

Selling yourself as a service provider means you have to be constantly on the hunt for new business. The market is very competitive. You will need to be active in your trade association. I have gotten clients because I was active in the local little league and in my church group.

To differentiate, self-brand. Pick a niche and do something very well. Gain a reputation. Also, focus on a specific geography. Look for business within a day's drive of your home. For an independent contractor, travel is a time-killer and expensive.

Question: What is the most effective incentive structure for top salespeople?

Answer: There are two approaches to this; it varies on the industry.

When selling products and services that have a long sales cycle, there is a base salary plus a commission, usually a half-and-half split. If the base is $80,000 then the total compensation with commission should be $160,000 if the full quota is attained. (Add a kicker for exceeding quota.)

The next approach is straight commission. Typically, 6% of gross revenue is the model I like, much like what is charged in the real estate brokerage business.
To make it work the sales person should have a well-developed funnel.

Whatever the incentive plan, make sure the sales team is fired up--don't cap potential earnings and they will be.

EU Commission wants to cut red tape to attract venture capital to cutting edge high-tech research.

PRESS RELEASE: Brussels, 4 September 2008.
The Commission today called on the Parliament and Council to support a new drive to cut red tape and allow greater flexibility to make European high-tech research more effective. It was responding to the 'Aho report', the most comprehensive evaluation of EU ICT research yet, looking beyond the management of research to evaluate its impact on innovation. The report highlighted that EU research could be of greater benefit for European competitiveness by involving and supporting high growth companies and providing better links between research and venture capital.

The Commission, which has launched several initiatives to involve leading companies in research(IP/08/910, IP/08/824, IP/08/785), is committed to making the information and communications technology (ICT) research it supports more effective in terms of delivering business opportunities. It is also launching a public consultation that will feed into proposals to this end in early 2009.

"European ICT research is a world leader in telecommunications and audiovisual systems and in application areas such as intelligent cars and medicine. However, we are falling behind in terms of the level and intensity of ICT research spending and we consistently fail to commercialise research results," said Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media. "EU ICT research must be turned into growth, jobs and competitiveness. For this to happen we need a Single Market approach to ICT research and innovation. We need less administrative red tape and risk-aversion and a more proactive policy environment. We did this with in mobile phones, today there are 3 billion in use worldwide on the European GSM standard. We can do it again."

The Commission is set to invest €9 billion in high-tech research under its ICT research programme between 2007 and 2013. Today it responded to the main findings of a report on its ICT research published by a panel headed by former Finnish Prime Minister Esko Aho (MEMO/08/430). EU research from 2003 until 2006 received €4 billion funding, bringing together over 4500 research organisations and resulted in world-leadership of areas of technology research, like 45 nanometre miniaturised chips that can be used in smaller and more functional PCs and mobile phones.

The Aho report* highlighted the need to cut red tape to attract more SMEs to EU research and said that more needed to be done to ensure commercialisation of research results. This includes more public-private partnerships such as the Joint Technology initiatives for nanoelectronics (IP/08/284) and embedded systems (IP/08/283) for which the Commission invested €5 billion earlier this year.

It also recommended actions to further cut administrative burdens to make it easier for innovative companies to participate in EU research and turn its results into products and services for consumers in Europe and beyond (shorter, simpler application procedures, for example). The Parliament and the Council are now invited to support the Commission in developing a more risk-tolerant approach to supporting research in the EU.

To maximise the impact of its ICT research on growth and jobs, the Commission also wants a more innovation-friendly environment where it would be easier for high-growth companies to link to venture capital and to develop standards for innovative new products. These are some of the issues that will be addressed by a public consultation on ICT research being launched in parallel with today's Communication (IP/08/1287).

Background:

The Communication and the "Aho Report" on the Effectiveness of Information Society Research in the EU's 6th Framework Programme 2003-2006 are available here.

*The "Aho Panel" included the following independent experts:
-Mr. Esko Aho (Chairman) - former Prime Minister of Finland and President of the Finnish National Fund for Research and Development (Sitra)
-Mr. Michel Cosnard - Professor at the Polytechnic School of the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Chairman and CEO of INRIA (Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique)
-Mr. Hans-Olaf Henkel - Professor at the University of Mannheim and former CEO of IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa as well as former President of the Federation of German Industries
-Mr. Luc Soete - Director of UNU-MERIT (the United Nations University – Maastricht Economic and social Research and training centre on Innovation and Technology)
-Mrs. Nicoletta Stame - Professor, Social Policy, University of Rome “La Sapienza” and Co-founder and first president of AIV (Italian Evaluation Association)
- Mr. Pavel Telička – former EU Commissioner (Health and Consumer Protection), Cofounder of BXL Consulting and Senior Advisor, European Policy Centre.

The 23 Recommendations of the "Aho Report" are:

1. It is recommended that efforts are made to continue to consolidate public-private partnerships of a more permanent nature, such as Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs) from the 7th Framework Programme.

2. It is recommended to continue the effort to ensure that support for SMEs and for large firms is not “compartmentalised” into different measures or tools.

3. A platform should be created within the scope of the 7th Framework Programme for new and high-growth companies to meet venture capital investors.

4. Encourage participation from outside Europe in all projects. Participation from both developing and industrialised non-European countries should be promoted.

5. Internationalise the advisory system – e.g. the IST Advisory Group – by including top scientists and engineers from around the world

6. Reflect the latest international developments and challenges in the work programme. A more flexible approach may be needed to integrate new, interesting developments in the field faster.

7. Focus the research effort on creating and sustaining world leadership where Europe already has a comparative advantage and where Europe has a new opportunity to take the lead. Europe should be selective and not attempt to become a world leader in every area

8. The eInfrastructures approach should be expanded to more application-oriented and user-oriented platforms in other sectors.

9. The Panel recommends that accounting control in JTIs is carried out by Member States and participating companies, with a minimum of intervention at the Community level.

1. The Panel strongly recommends developing a more trust-based approach towards participants at all stages. The existence of a few unfortunate examples should not be allowed to stand in the way of innovation. Specific elements in the development of such an approach are detailed below.
2. To require shorter proposals with fewer details of work packages and a focus on the appropriateness of partnerships in particular the inclusion of highly innovative participants.
3. That more complete and helpful feedback is made available to proposers whose ideas are not funded.
4. To test a new approach whereby proposals are not fully evaluated initially. All applications passing a few basic checks should be given a small amount of "seed funding" for an exploratory phase. After this, exploratory projects with successful results would be selected for full project funding.
5. Financing projects based on actual performance rather than promises and reputation could both reduce the initial paperwork and be a viable way of attracting innovative (small) companies which would not otherwise consider applying for Community funding.
6. To explore expanding the two-step evaluation procedure from the Open part of the "future and emerging technology" area to other parts of the programme – prospective participants first provide a broad outline of their project idea, and only provide a more refined plan once they are selected. This may increase the workload for the Commission in the early phases, and lengthen the evaluation process, but it will significantly reduce the burden on the research community of preparing proposals.
7. To optimise reporting, which is time-consuming and may be untimely, and allow the participants to report when there is something to report.
8. To allow the refocusing of the research on different priorities if this becomes necessary during implementation.
9. Similarly, to allow more flexibility in the composition of partnerships during the project, including the possibility of changing partners if the research takes a direction which would benefit from new partners or replacement of partners.
10. The Panel recommends a more strategic use of standardisation to create new EU-wide markets. Standard-setting is needed as a tool for pulling through innovations and creating viable markets for new products and services.
11. The Panel welcomes the recent Commission Communication on pre-commercial procurement, and recommends that new initiatives are taken to allow public authorities to procure the development of innovative goods and services.
12. The European single market needs to be made more effective for business angels and venture capitalists, and European investment funds need to be more effectively utilised to pull through innovations from the Framework Programmes.
13. A more strategic approach to standardisation at the European level, when this cannot be left to market forces, focused on interoperability and development of standards where there is a well-documented need for coherent innovative services and European leadership, will be in the broader public interest.
14. The interconnection of large regional and national eInfrastructures should be further developed. EU-wide platforms and infrastructures are needed in sectors such as eGovernment (especially procurement), eHealth (cross-border applications), logistics and transport. Framework RTD should be complemented by other measures, in particular public procurement at both national and European

Social networks : How to optimize your Facebook profile?

Many people ask me are congratulating me on my facebook profile and asking me how to use FB to generate business networks and deals.

My answer is, first, Facebook blog is excellent to begin with. All the new features are described and FB forum can help on sharing ideas or resolve some technical problems.

Facebook is only a social network or The BLOG of blogs, a tool that will never replace your way of behaving in life.

If we relate to the Aristotle theory of the Final Cause (La cause finale),
« Tout art et toute investigation, et pareillement toute action et tout choix, tendent vers quelque fin » . It is defined as the purpose, the good, or the end of something.

The way you want to use Facebook depends on your Final Cause, your target audience (cible). And like in marketing, you have to adjust accordingly.

The Driver (goal oriented) wants Accomplishment: what your product or service can do for them to solve their problem.

The Amiable wants Acceptance: why your product or service is best to solve their problem.

The Expressive (creative) wants Applause: who has used your product or service to solve problems.

The Analytical wants Accuracy: how your product or service can solve the problem.

Hope it can help.

Sonia Bessamra.

China as an international investor: in a class of its own

China is already in a "class of its own" among the BRIC group (Brazil, Russia and India) of fast-growing economic powers and will "replace the United States as the world's largest economy by 2040," says Markus Jaeger of Deutsche Bank Research think tank in an August paper.

The author underlines existing divergences between these countries' economic strategies.

These divergences are significant because the BRIC countries are to emerge as major international investors, while "China stands out in terms of size of external asset holdings and asset accumulation," Jaeger explains.

While China has adopted a strategy based on domestic savings, high investment, a competitive exchange rate and a manufacturing sector reliant on exports, Brazil, Russia and India are following different patterns, he explains.

Russia's approach is oriented towards commodity exports, while India and Brazil are both "closed economies" based on the growth of their domestic markets, says Jaeger. The difference between the two is that Brazil goes for a diversified growth strategy, whereas India pursues a strategy based on services.

The paper emphasizes the BRIC countries' strategy of introducing sovereign wealth funds to invest part of their holdings in higher-return assets. This, combined with an increase in external asset holdings, will make them "important international financial players".

China will emerge as a "net capital exporter" in the next ten years due to its large domestic savings and its export development approach," says the paper. Jaeger thus concludes that in net international investment and "many other respects," "China is already in a class of its own".

Vous avez dit communication politique ?

J'écoutais ce matin le Good Morning Business sur BFM tout en -non pas me rasant- me brossant les dents -quand j'apprends que la Ministre de l'économie, Mme Christine Lagarde, venait d'annoncer sur la Tribune un éventuel aménagement de l'ISF.

Je me dis, avec la nouvelle du financement du RSA annoncée la semaine dernière par Nicolas Sarkozy, voilà une mesure qui va attirer quelques gros investissements étrangers (FDI) en France et doper davantage la croissance. Ceux là même qui ne payeront plus l'ISF, qui reste quand même une "exception culturelle" française puisque pratiquement unique au monde avec ... la Colombie -on comprend pourquoi-, financeront une partie du RSA.

Une heure plus tard, M. Fillon annonce qu'il ne compte pas supprimer cet impôt. Les subtilités de la communication politique française font que l'annonce de M. Fillon n'est pas un "démenti" comme on devrait l'appeler dans la com mais une "contre" annonce et elle intervient alors que la plupart des entreprises françaises sont en train de publier leurs résultats trimestriels et que l'on sent ce matin, la fébrilité du CAC40.

Au même moment, tous les médias américains nous annoncent que la récession aux USA commence à être jugulée et que la relance de la croissance ne saurait tarder alors que l'on sait que les répercussions réelles du crédit crunch sur l'économie ne sont pas encore complètement évaluées. Il en est de même de l'autre côté de la manche où, malgré la crise, on continue à vendre les crédits immobiliers en anticipant un retournement de la conjoncture économique....

Franchement, ceux qui me connaissent déjà savent que "ce n'est pas parce que je ne suis pas pour que je suis contre" mais ça m'a fait pensé à une précédente note où je disais : Is it too late for France to catch up?

Le commentaire du jour serait : est ce que M. Fillon pense que la France est déconnectée du monde ou que la crise actuelle est une fatalité ?

On le sait plutôt pessimiste avec son "l'Etat est en faillite", mais avec une telle communication, le moral des français risque de l'aggraver. So, let's think positive!

Sonia Bessamra.