On the 29th and the 30th of January 2008, a regional workshop on the MENA Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (MCREEE) was held in Cairo. The stated objectives of the workshop were to screen / confirm the willingness of the MENA Region countries to cooperate with the new Centre, as well as to exchange opinions and suggestions of the legal and administrative structures of the centre in order to guarantee independency.

1. Report on the Regional Workshop on the MENA Centre for Renewable Energy and
Energy Efficiency (MCREEE)
On the 29th and the 30th of January 2008, a regional workshop on the MENA Centre for
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (MCREEE) was held in Cairo.
Objective:
The stated objectives of the workshop were “to screen / confirm the willingness of the
MENA Region countries to cooperate with the new Centre, as well as to exchange
opinions and suggestions of the legal and administrative structures of the centre in
order to guarantee independency”.
Participants
Representatives from 10 MENA countries participated in the workshop, upon invitation
by the Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr. Hassan Younes . These countries were
Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Yemen beside
Egypt. Representatives of the Governments of Germany, Denmark and the European
Commission (EC), committed to support the MCREEE also participated. The
consultants Mr. Claus and Mr. Mostert who jointly had prepared studies concerning the
Centre mandated by the German and Danish governments respectively, assisted in the
workshop as resource persons and advisors. Experts and officials from Egypt and
other countries attended the workshop. (see List of Participants in Annex I) The
workshop was organized jointly by the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA)
from Egypt and the German Development Cooperation (GTZ).
Agenda and Process
The workshop process followed closely the proposed agenda (see Annex II):
Day one:
o The Egyptian host and representatives of the three external development partners
Denmark, Germany, and EC gave courtesy introductions and expressed their offer
of support for the Centre.
o Representatives of development partners presented features, experience and
lessons learnt from other international and regional initiatives in the fields of
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency., as well as available support instruments.

2. o The consultants presented the general features and the main results of the
consultations and studies carried out in preparation of the Centre.
o The representatives from each of the participating MENA countries presented the
current situation of RE development in their respective countries and gave first
comments to the proposed Centre.
Day two
o Based on a specific presentation of the consultants and a presentation on the
related EC project, the workshop discussed the objectives, type of activities and time
frames of the future MCREEE and the mode of responding to the demand of the
MENA countries.
o Similarly based on a specific presentation of a proposal from the consultants and the
Egyptian host (NREA), the institutional setup including legal framework, organization
and financing of the future Centre.
o Finally, the workshop discussed the Cairo Declaration of Intentions on Establishment
of MENA Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency “MCREEE”, based on
a draft, which had been send by the host to the participants before and modified
during the course of the workshop. This session was chaired by the Egyptian host
and the Cairo Declaration was adopted unanimously by the participants from MENA
countries.
Results
The outstanding result of the workshop is the adopting of Cairo Declaration of Intentions
on Establishment of MENA Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
“MCREEE” by all participants from the MENA countries and the sponsoring partners.
(see Annex III) This declaration is the basis for the next steps. With this result, the
objective of the workshop was largely attained.
Other important outcomes of the workshop, and the way forward.
1) Representatives of donor countries and participating Arab countries agreed upon the
creation of two working groups to:
A- Examine the legal status and the organizational form of the MCREEE,
this group includes 5 members (proposed: Algeria, Egypt, and Lebanon Germany
EU,).This examination will be based on the proposal presented during the workshop
and the discussions.

3. B- Examine the MCREEE’s activities and a develop two year work plan.
This group will include between 5 and 10 members from MENA and sponsor countries
(proposed: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Palestine, Germany,
and Denmark).
2) It is suggested to carry out two studies already during the initial period. All countries
requested to send their ideas and proposals on the two subjects before the 20th of
February 2008.
3) The German consultant Mr. Claus, together with an international law consulting firm,
will prepare the study on item 2A; while the study on item 2 B is to be prepared by the
Danish consultant Mr. Mostert in cooperation with Mr. Kamel, currently from the Danish
Laboratory UNEP/RISO. The two consultants will prepare their preliminary reports by
March 2008, for discussion in a preparatory workshop to be held in April 2008. (Annex
IV includes elements for the two working groups)
4) Libya announced that the proposed preparatory workshop scheduled for April 2008
to present the two draft studies will be hosted by Libya.
5) A workshop will be organized in Cairo in June 2008 to declare the outcomes of the
two above mentioned studies, and to start the MCREEE’s activities.
6) The working group previously formed to prepare for the regional workshop in Cairo
in January 2008 (which includes representatives from the New & Renewable Energy
Authority (NREA), GTZ office, Danida , the European Commission in Cairo, Algeria
and Libya ) will assume the role of the secretariat for all present activities, and until the
final workshop scheduled June 2008 in Cairo.
Further observations and comments from the workshop
The presentations by the MENA countries in the workshop confirmed the conclusion of
the consultants, that the issue of renewable energies has received significantly
increased attention, and that now all the participating countries have specific authorities
in place with official competence for renewable energy, some of which were created in
recent month.
In the course of the workshop all participants from MENA countries showed high
interest and had a supportive attitude.
In their comments and interrogations, the representatives of participant countries
stressed on their expected financial obligations .The current available funds insured the
full financing of the MCREEE for the first five operational years,

4. Representatives of participating countries discussed also the Centre's activities and
capabilities to fulfil the needs of any country in certain area or to add new fields
according to set priorities .They also discussed means of communication
The workshop took place in a harmonious working atmosphere. All countries
participated actively presenting the current situations in their respective countries and
chairing sessions as well as in the technical discussions and the negotiations and
adoption of the declaration.