FROM LEFT: Amel Azzouz, Prof Din Syamsuddin, Prof Steve Spiegel, Ambassador Charles Ries and Adel Hamaizia, during the opening plenary session of the conference, yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
DOHA: The high unemployment rate in the Arab region remains a major challenge, said experts speaking at the ‘Enriching the Middle East’s Economic Future Conference’. The two-day high-profile conference witnessed discussion on economic challenges faced by the Arab region.
Addressing the conference, speakers said that the unemployment rate is more than 29 percent, which is high compared to other regions of the world and most of the unemployed are young people.
The conference, being held at Ritz Carlton Hotel, is organised by the Permanent Committee for Organizing Conferences at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Center for Middle East Development (CMED) of the University of California — Los Angeles.
The opening session of the Conference was held in the presence of Prof. Din Syamsuddin from the Center for Dialogue and Cooperation among Civilizations (CDCC); Amal Azzouz, member of the Shura Council of the Tunisian Renaissance (Ennahdha) Party; Adel Hamaizia from the Oxford Gulf & Arabian Peninsula Studies Forum and Ambassador Charles Ries from the RAND Corporation. The session was chaired by Prof. Steven Spiegel, Director of the Center for the Development of the Middle East (CMED), University of California — Los Angeles.
The participants emphasised on the importance of overcoming the obstacles that hinder the growth of the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) economy.
The Mena region has many factors that enable it to enjoy a strong economy, but there are some challenges that prevent it, they said.
Participants also stressed on the importance of a close relationship between leaders and peoples, saying that in the past, this relationship meant providing free education, health care and other components, but these things have changed in our time and they must be reconsidered.
They also emphasised on the importance to consider what can be done to stimulate the private sector to promote the advancement of the region’s economy.
They focused on the importance of Arab societies to apply the principles of good governance in the best way to combat corruption and to identify the obstacles that prevent the strengthening of the economy.
In a session titled ‘Regional Policy Response to Global Trade and Economic Challenges’, participants discussed challenges and economic difficulties facing the Arab region.
The participants summarised these challenges in three main categories- inequality and the large income gap among the people of the Arab countries, rising unemployment, and climate change challenges.
They pointed out that income inequality reflects the lack of Arab governments’ practices of social justice policies with the concentration of wealth in a small sector. About 10 percent of the region’s population controls about 67 percent of the wealth of the region, a very high rate compared to other regions.
They also warned of the impact of climate change on the Arab region.
According to the experts, economic policies in the region are still concentrated in natural resources, which reflects the importance of changing these policies to become more diversified.
The experts stressed that Arab governments should seek to develop their citizens’ education and develop their skills to become more capable of entering the labour market.
At a session entitled “Cybersecurity and the Global System”, the participants discussed many issues related to cybersecurity, especially those related to the threats posed by attacks and electronic piracy, and reviewed the mechanisms that must be followed and applied in many countries to address these attacks.
During a session titled ‘Great Powers in the Middle East’, the participants discussed the positions of the United States, the European Union and Russia on many issues in the Middle East.
