The European Commission (EC), through the European Cluster Collaboration Platform (ECCP), will host the EU–South MED Matchmaking Event in Cairo, Egypt, from 16 to 18 June 2025. This event will be organised in collaboration with the Euromed Cluster Forward initiative funded by DG MENA, the Federation of Egyptian Industries, and Enterprise Europe Network (EEN). It will take place in the framework of two major international exhibitions: Egypt Infrastructure & Water Expo and Big 5 Construct Egypt.

The EU – South MED Matchmaking Event will bring together cluster organisations and SMEs from the European Union (EU), non-EU countries participating in the Single Market Programme/COSME Strand, and South MED countries: Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Tunisia. It will provide participants an excellent chance to promote Cluster to Cluster (C2C), Cluster to Business (C2B), and Business to Business (B2B) collaborations. 
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?

This invitation is addressed to SMEs interested in collaborating with South MED counterparts in the following sectors:

• Green Tech & Renewable Energy (focus on water and waste management)
• Smart Cities & Digital Technologies (enabling urban connectivity)
• Sustainable Construction (supporting resilient infrastructure)
• Communications - Communication Equipment & Services, Data Communications and Telecommunications Services, Digital Transformation Solutions, ICT Services

DEADLINES

This Call for Expression of Interest has three cut-off dates (deadlines):

• 1 April 2025, 23:59 Brussels time 

• 29 April 2025, 23:59 Brussels time (the second cut-off date will be available only in case of still available places after the first round of evaluation after the first cut-off date).

• 20 May 2025, 23:59 Brussels time (the third cut-off date will be available only in case of still available places after the first and second rounds of evaluation after the first cut-off dates).

The second and third cut-off dates will ONLY be available in case places are still available after the evaluations of the previous cut-offs.

Please note that no fee will be charged to participate in this event. 

Late applications after 20 May 2025 could be accepted for participation if provided eligibility criteria are fulfilled by the participants. Late applications are accepted if submitted through B2Match until 6 June 2025, 23:59 Brussels time at the latest.

The organisers reserve the right to close the application process once the maximum capacity for participants is reached. 

HOW TO APPLY

Apply and submit your expression of interest as an SMEs here until 29 April (Tuesday), 23:59 (second cut-off date) Brussels Time.

The call for expressions of interest is being launched to identify a European delegation made up of representatives from SMEs who are willing and committed to participate in the EU-South MED Matchmaking Event.

By submitting an expression of interest in response to this call, you are indicating your acceptance of the call's terms.

Further details about the event, the eligibility requirements, and how to submit an expression of interest can be found here.

This call is targeting only SMEs. A separate call exists for cluster organisations and business network organisations. So if you are a cluster organisation or a business network organisation you should respond to the call that is available here.