It used to be that international business and the small enterprise sector were almost mutually exclusive. Internationalization was generally limited to large corporations, while small firms tended to be local. Those days are gone. Increasing global competition is changing the nature of knowledge necessary for success in commerce. Firms will need to seek opportunities beyond familiar turf and traditional markets. For that reason, this book examines business issues and the environment for enterprise in a variety of contexts around the Middle East.The information provided helps entrepreneurs decide where to invest, where to focus their expansion efforts and where to be especially cautious. Thus, this guide — written in easy-to-understand language — can help entrepreneurs avoid costly mistakes. It is more than a book — it is an investment!

Regional Integration in the Union for the Mediterranean: Progress Report monitors major trends and evolutions of integration in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The Report examines five domains of regional integration, namely trade integration, financial integration, infrastructure integration, movement of people, as well as research and higher education.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is an economically diverse region. Despite undertaking economic reforms in many countries, and having considerable success in avoiding crises and achieving macroeconomic stability, the region’s economic performance in the past 30 years has been below potential. This paper takes stock of the region’s relatively weak performance, explores the reasons for this out come, and proposes an agenda for urgent reforms.

Individual countries of the Maghreb have achieved substantial progress on trade, but, as a region they remain the least integrated in the world. The share of intraregional trade is less than 5 percent of their total trade, substantially lower than in all other regional trading blocs around the world. Geopolitical considerations and restrictive economic policies have stifled regional integration. Economic policies have been guided by country-level considerations, with little attention to the region, and are not coordinated. Restrictions on trade and capital flows remain substantial and constrain regional integration for the private sector.

Regulation & Investments in Energy Markets: Solutions for the Mediterranean presents the status of advancement and maturity of the Mediterranean energy policy, identifying patterns of development as well as lessons learned. Mediterranean countries are facing unprecedented challenges in the energy sector which affect the entire region. Energy policy and regulation is the key to tackling energy efficiency challenges, and providing favorable conditions for engineering infrastructures, investments, and improving security of energy supply. The assumption that the normative model, on which the EC energy policy is based, could be adopted outside EU boundaries has proven to be difficult to implement. This book looks at the Mediterranean regions search for a revised model for regulatory convergence and provides answers to those research questions, allowing the reader to understand the different technical, institutional, and financial frameworks for energy policy. - Contains a detailed overview of the specificities and institutional frameworks, giving greater clarity on existing energy practice - Provides recommendations and contributions from leading scholars and key players in energy policy research - Presents information from a region wide interdisciplinary approach based on specific industry information

The effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic development has been widely debated. However, the real challenge is not only to examine the effect of FDI on economic development but to also investigate the most appropriate economic policies that are conducive to increasing levels of FDI. Ashraf Mishrif here addresses this challenge and examines the interplay between external and internal forces to determine whether recent EU-Egyptian trade agreements have led to any significant improvement in Egypt's investment environment and in the growth levels of European direct investment in the country. This important study makes a key contribution to our understanding of the inward investment strategies and options of the Arab World's most populous and powerful player. It will be an essential point of reference for all economists, bankers and investment advisors dealing with the Middle East.