Printed on Demand. Limited stock is held for this title. If you would like to order 30 copies or more please contact [email protected] Contact [email protected], if currently unavailable. Globalization has increased competitive pressures on firms. Together with rapid technological change, it has altered the environment in which firms operate. While globalization offers unprecedented opportunities for firms to act successfully, it simultaneously heightens the risks for firms lagging behind. In an open and liberalized world, increasing firm competitiveness has become a major challenge. This volume provides a thorough analysis of the competitiveness of firms in the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA). It is organized into four parts which detail the different issues related to firm competitiveness from global rules for business, regional business environment, corporate governance, and the key economic sectors of small/medium size enterprises and tourism. This volume addresses key issues for the future of the region including the real challenges facing firms? operations and efficiency, the ability of MENA firms to compete in global markets, the impact of small and medium size enterprises on the stimulation of growth, and the economic potential of the tourism sector.

Seminar paper from the year 2021 in the subject Politics - Region: Africa, grade: 1,0, Ruhr-University of Bochum, language: English, abstract: The phenomenon of Globalization has been on the uprising for nearly two centuries now. It does not only affect the economically strong countries, like the United States or China for example, but has also always had a direct impact on countries with a weaker financial system, like those from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region for example. In order to analyze the effects of Globalization on the MENA-Region, we need to take a look at how the process of Globalization works and how it shows in the economic growth of different countries. So, what exactly is Globalization? Globalization describes the process of worldwide interlinkage between not only companies, but also different governments or individuals, regarding a large variety of fields, like the business world or cultural diversity for example. It is driven by the international exchange of labor, goods, and technological innovation, while the flow of information also plays a large role in the process. The effects of Globalization are very complex and undoubtedly not only positive, as many people have to suffer for the great success of others that Globalization allows and promotes. This shows in the phenomena of free trade, open borders, and the relocation of production in different countries, where labor is cheaper and more effective, for example. It allows customers to buy any goods at any time, while also being able to base their purchase decision on the price of the available product from different providers for instance.

'From Privilege to Competition: Unlocking Private-Led Growth in the Middle East and North Africa' sheds new light on the difficult quest for stronger and more diversified growth in a region of unquestionable potential. It underlines the need to strengthen reforms in many areas specifically, by reducing policy uncertainty and improving credit and real estate markets. It also highlights other important issues that restrain the credibility and impact of reforms in many parts of the region: conflicts of interest between politicians and businesses, an investment climate that favors a few privileged firms, and a dominant private sector that often opposes reforms. The book recommends that countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) engage in more credible reform agendas by improving the implementation of policies in a manner that will reduce discretion and privileges. This renewed commitment to stronger growth would entail several developments. First, governments will need to reduce opportunities for rent-seeking and foster competition. Second, they will need to work to reform institutions: private sector development policies will need to be systematically anchored in elements of institutional and public sector reforms in order to reduce discretion and opacity and improve the quality of services to firms. Third, they will need to mobilize all stakeholders, including larger representations from the private sector, around dedicated long-term growth strategies. Short of such a fundamental shift in the way private sector policies are formulated and implemented, investor expectations that governments are committed to reform will be limited. It will take political will and time to support sustained reforms that credibly convince investors and the public that changes are real, deep, and set to last. MENA countries are endowed with strong human capital, good infrastructure, immense resources, and a great deal of untapped creativity and entrepreneurship. The economic and social payoff of embarking on a more ambitious private-led growth agenda could thus be immense for all.

In this 2010 edition of their book on the economic development of the Middle East and North Africa, Clement Henry and Robert Springborg reflect on what has happened to the region's economy since 2001. How have the various countries in the Middle East responded to the challenges of globalization and to the rise of political Islam, and what changes, for better or for worse, have occurred? Utilizing the country categories they applied in the previous book and further elaborating the significance of the structural power of capital and Islamic finance, they demonstrate how over the past decade the monarchies (as exemplified by Jordan, Morocco and those of the Gulf Cooperation Council) and the conditional democracies (Israel, Turkey and Lebanon) continue to do better than the military dictatorships or 'bullies' (Egypt, Tunisia and now Iran) and 'the bunker states' (Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria and Yemen).

Ch. 1. Is MENA exceptional? ch. 2. State formation, consolidation, and development, 1960s-1980s -- ch. 3. Toward greater use of markets and the global economy? -- ch. 4. Oil, OPEC, and the challenges of surplus management -- ch. 5. Water scarcity and agricultural policy in the MENA region -- ch. 6. Building a new future : development in the post-conflict context and post-disaster recovery -- ch. 7. Is the MENA region "open" for business? -- ch. 8. Making global integration work for MENA countries -- ch. 9. Are market disciplines sufficient? Industrial policy and technology transfer -- ch. 10. The keys to the future : human capital development in the MENA region -- ch. 11. Are MENA's labor markets the key to growth? -- ch. 12. Closing the poverty gap in MENA -- ch. 13. Development assistance and its effectiveness in MENA countries -- ch. 14. Pathways to future prosperity.

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.

Part I of this report discusses the short- and medium-term growth prospects for countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The region is expected to grow at a subdued rate of 0.6 percent in 2019, rising to 2.6 percent in 2020 and 2.9 percent in 2021. The growth forecast for 2019 is revised down by 0.8 percentage points from the April 2019 projection. MENA’s economic outlook is subject to substantial downside risks—most notably, intensified global economic headwinds and rising geopolitical tensions. Part II argues that promoting fair competition is key for MENA countries to complete the transition from an administered to a market economy. Part II first examines current competition policies in MENA countries and to promote fair competition calls for strengthening competition law and enforcement agencies. It also calls for corporatizing state-owned enterprises, promoting the private sector and creating a level-playing field between them. Any moves to reform MENA economies would be aided by professional management of public assets, which could tap into a new source of national wealth.