Dr. Gweily Discusses Competitiveness of Arab Economies in a Seminar at the BA
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Alexandria—
The BA Dialogue Forum held its bimonthly seminar on Saturday, 10 May 2008, entitled “Competitiveness of Arab Economies”, by Dr. Ahmed Gweily, Secretary General of the Council of Arab Economic Unity and chaired by Ali Moslem, Professor, the Faculty of Commerce, Alexandria University.
Dr. Gweily spoke about the challenges facing industry in Arab countries and the food gap in the region, which depends completely on imports, referring to the fact that the Arab World imports 75 million tons of food annually, of which 50 million tons are grains.
Dr. Gweily added that the decline in the competitiveness of Arab economies in industrial and agricultural production is due to the gap in scientific research and technology. He also pointed out that the Arab region is still unattractive to investments, despite some countries’ efforts to reform its economies and amend its investment laws, such as Egypt, Jordan, and Tunis.
Dr. Gweily concluded by referring to the recommendations of Riyadh Summit in March 2007, which called for convening an Arab Economic Summit in Kuwait in January 2009, in response to a call from Egypt and Kuwait. The Summit will discuss Arab economic integration, increasing joint Arab investments, and will also examine the following themes: investment, trade, transportation, education, health, population, unemployment, poverty, environment, and finally future challenges such as: climate change, water and food security.