|
Reforms not rescue packages needed for the Middle East Fon Mathuros, Communications Department: Tel.: +962 779942435; E-mail: fmathuro@weforum.org • Continuing reform process is key for Middle East to weather economic crises and for its long-term growth Dead Sea, Jordan, 16 May 2009 – Business and government leaders from the Middle East identified at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East that pushing ahead with reforms is the key to weathering the global economic crisis. “This is not about a rescue package,” said Rachid M. Rachid, Minister of Trade and Industry of Egypt. “The real big story is reform, change and managing the transition. What we have been doing in the past years is seriously driving a reform programme and making clear that, unless successful, we will not be able to meet the challenges of the world. If we would not have reformed, we would have been in a terrible situation today,” he told leaders at the meeting. Other panellists in the session, focused on the measures the region needs to introduce to render their economies more resilient and positioned for growth, agreed. “Our plans for education, job creation and the reform programme are the most important things that need rescuing,” said Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance of Bahrain. “The challenge is not to address the immediate challenges like shortness of liquidity … The challenge is to look at going forward in terms of job creation, economic growth and which models are sustainable.” Jordan is pursuing the same strategy, according to its Minister of Finance, Basem Al Salem. “We are concentrating on what’s after the crisis – so on the reform process: new tax laws, a new custom tariff structure and investment strategy to make Jordan a more competitive place to invest in,” he said. Arif M. Naqvi, Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer, Abraaj Capital, United Arab Emirates, stressed the need for educational reforms to continue, saying “the critical element of reform is education, and it might take us 10 years but it will make us competitive.” Joe Saddi, Chairman of the Board, Booz & Company, Lebanon, agreed: “The big worry I have is that we get distracted from long-term reforms like diversification, liberalization and while building our regulatory and supervision capabilities, it’s about modernizing government services, labour laws and having the right social safety nets; and then the toughest is to maintain the course on educational reforms.” The private sector representatives on the panel cautioned the policy-makers against using the crisis to “interfere in business”. “My worry is we’re going to get back to the norms where government says it knows better. We need to be clear that government doesn’t take the opportunity and take over,” said Khalid Abdulla-Janahi, Chairman, Ithmaar Bank, Bahrain. Panellists addressed other challenges facing the region’s economy. Despite the impact of the economic crisis, the fundamentals of the Middle East’s economy are “generally solid” according to Naqvi, but consumers need to be talked back into being confident. Fixing the US financial institutions will help resolve market volatility, according to Minister Rachid, who also called on the private sector to work together with policy-makers to avoid protectionism.
Notes to Editors
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||