Mustapha Nabli (North Africa Bureau of Economic Studies International) took the floor in the third and closing panel at the ERF 24th Annual Conference. After the session, we recorded the short interview below, in which Mr. Nabli shares the main messages of his presentation.
Mr. Nabli states that, even if there were a new normal in the global economy, this would not have much impact on the countries of the MENA region. The reason for this is that MENA countries haven’t been integrated enough the global economy and therefore a slowdown in the global economy and trade is not going to have a large impact in MENA.
For Mr. Nabli, the essential problems of the region lie in domestic issues - private investment, innovation, increasing productivity, structural transformation, producing and diverting resource to the most productive and effective sectors, that's where the problems lie. Hence, big reforms are required in order to increase productivity, improve labor force participation, and create quality jobs.
Mr. Nabli concludes on the importance and need for trust - people need to trust each other, they need to trust the government, they need to trust the institutions of government, the judicial system, the security. All this, in turn, requires political stability.
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.
