BUS613: Advanced International Business

A development strategy based on regional and global economic integration has the potential to unlock MENA's untapped economic potentials. For this to happen, a broad reform agenda is needed, tailored to each country's specific circumstances and stages of reform. The GCC countries have made substantial progress on reducing tariffs and nontariff measures and in improving trade logistics and infrastructure, but reforms are needed in the services area. In the Mashreq countries, which have strong links to the GCC, good infrastructure and cross-border trade facilitation should be prioritized. In the Maghreb, which has strong links to the EU, reducing tariffs and nontariff measures and cross-border trade facilitation should be high on the reform agenda. 

The political change sweeping through the Arab world provides an opportunity for the region to accelerate economic integration efforts. The Deauville initiative is timely in this regard. At its May 2011 meeting in Deauville, France, the G8 launched a strategic partnership with MENA countries undergoing political and economic change. This partnership calls on partner countries (Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia) to formulate homegrown economic and governance reform programs to enhance domestic competitiveness and promote trade and FDI. In return, the Deauville partners (which include, in addition to the G8, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE, and nine international and regional financial institutions) committed to support the partner countries in achieving their goals of economic and political transformation through three strategic pillars: governance, finance, and trade and commerce.