Global Challenges and Opportunities Facing MENA Countries at the Dawn of the 21st Century

The premise of the paper is that when the forces driving the globalization of the world economy are fully appreciated, the need for a new program of action in the MENA countries becomes very clear. We are going through a period of rapid and fundamental change that requires major adjustments in the way economic policy-making has been practiced so far. Decisions to trade and invest are increasingly an integral part of broader business strategies relating to the efficient organization and location of production and marketing activities. With international competition becoming increasingly intense, the ability of newly-developed and incorporated technology to enhance competitiveness provides incentives for firms to form strategic alliances or joint ventures and to seek economies of scale in production and marketing, thus reducing transaction costs, spreading the high cost of research and development and influencing trade and investment flows world-wide. What is then needed is a multi-policy, comprehensive approach that will promote the openness of markets to global competition in order to create truly internationally contestable markets in the MENA region. This can only be achieved by tackling the implications for international competition arising from government and private actions in the different policy fields. The strategy should lead to further market openings and a deepening and broadening of rules affecting the conditions under which trade and investment will take place in the future.