São Paulo – The main economies of the Middle East and North Africa announced their forecast of 12% inflation in 2011, according to figures disclosed at the 14th Arab Business Owners and Investors 2011, which is taking place in Jordan. The economic situation of the region was one of the themes discussed during the meeting, which included the secretary general at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, along with 500 businessmen, executives and representatives of bilateral chambers of commerce and sector organisations from the country and abroad.
According to figures disclosed at the conference, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Arab world should expand 3.5% in 2011, as against prior projections of 6.5%. "Inflation is also surrounding the Arab countries, mainly due to the price of food," said Alaby, based on talks in Amman. On the other hand, some nations in the region, mainly the producers of oil, subsidise the price of food to their population, which helps control inflation.
The rate of unemployment also concerns the Arab economies and participants in the conference agree on the need to develop a strategic plan for the Arab world, including economic and political reforms, educational policy, development of human resources, privatisation of public enterprises, reduction of administrative bureaucracy and simplification of foreign investment, among other measures.
According to Alaby, one of the great problems of the Middle East and North Africa is the low participation of industry in the GDP of the Arab countries. It reaches an average of 15%, whereas developing nations answer to 25% to 30%. Most of the Arab countries have their industry based almost exclusively on oil. For this reason, the Arab world has been making efforts to attract foreign capital into industry and other areas.
During the conference in Amman, investment opportunities in Jordan were presented. "There are opportunities in irrigation, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, energy production and distribution, information technology and medical services," said Alaby. Other attractions to investors in the Arab country were also mentioned, among them the good relations with neighbours, the modern telecommunications chain, the qualified labour and the low labour cost.
The meeting began on Tuesday (1) and ends today (2) under theme "Investment in Jordan: Promising Opportunities". The organizers are the League of Arab States, the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries and The Arab investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of Jordan. Apart from representatives from Arab countries, the conference also included Australian, North American, Greek, Belgian, French, Austrian and German representatives.
*Translated by Mark Ament