International Trade in MENA

When the MENA region was open to international trade and to the movement of factors of production, human capital, innovation and private business, it enjoyed a long period of prosperity. That period of prosperity was a long time before the current wave of globalization. Now that the world is enjoying the fruits of globalization, Arab MENA has fallen far behind. The non-Arab MENA, represented by Cyprus, Israel and Turkey, has not suffered the same fate. While the developed and developing world has experienced trade growth rates close to double digits, Arab MENA has only managed to experience growth in trade closer to 2 to 4 percent. As much of the developing world has assumed an active role in the innovation process as well as in the global production chain, Arab MENA continues to maintain its old economic links which depend on oil and natural resource exports, tourism, and labor migration…