Gouda Abdel-Khalek is Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University. At the ERF 24th Annual Conference, he participated as a discussant in the first plenary session, focusing on the lessons from the Asian experience that could be useful for sustained growth in the MENA region.
According to Prof Abdel-Khalek, the main messages from the session is that is possible to design a effective industrial policy, and in this there is clearly a lot to learn from the Korean experience.
To apply this to the MENA region however, it is important to consider and tackle the initial conditions such as the high illiteracy rate, the high dependency in terms of food supply, and fact that the augmented Washington consensus has been widely implemented in the region. These issues need to be kept in mind when designing an industrial policy for the MENA region.
The Economic Research Forum’s 24th Annual Conference is held in Cairo, Egypt, on 8-10 July, 2018. The main theme of the plenary sessions is “The New Normal in the Global Economy: Challenges and Prospects for MENA”. The conference aims to draw on the lessons learned from the restructuring of the economic order across the region, particularly in light of the wide-ranging consequences of the decline in oil prices. With social turbulence and conflict persist in several MENA countries, the main goal is adequately reconciling short-term social and economic concerns with long-term growth and reform efforts. Visit the conference website to find out more about the event and access papers, videos and blogs.
