Going beyond Doing Business to Foster Job Creation in Arab Countries

In a nutshell

• Creating enough jobs is a key development challenge for Arab countries.
• To address this challenge, many Arab policy makers sought to enhance the positions of their countries in the World Bank’s Doing Business ranking.
• A better Doing Business ranking is thought to attract job-creating investments. This policy brief argues that such a policy goal is not sufficient to foster investment and job creation in Arab countries.
• Arab policy makers need to embrace a broader approach, which include structural reforms, to reduce business-government transaction costs, enhance competitiveness and increase investment returns.