This volume, edited by Said El-Naggar, examines the impact of macro- and microeconomic policies on the investment climate in the Arab countries, the efficiency of public investment, and the role of foreign direct investment.

Over the last half-century, the GCC states have invested on a huge scale in higher education, but the stated commitment to internationally recognized excellence has also to come to terms with tradition. These pressure points are examined here in a number of comparative studies, and cover among other topics: - higher education as soft power to promote regional or global influence - intense reliance on foreign instructors - citizen entitlements - badu and hadar divisions - gender separation - different visions of language of instruction - marginalization of foreign students and faculty outside work - branch campuses of foreign universities Despite efforts to train and employ nationals, the vast majority of health workers remain non-local, and major challenges remain in fields such as science and technology. Expenditure has not always led to the effective reform of underperforming educational systems, and institutions often fall short of their world-class aspirations. The studies in this book explore ways of making institutions better realise the balance between global and local.

This volume, edited by Said El-Naggar, is the fifth in a series of seminars dealing with economic issues of particular importance to the Arab countries. Held in Manama, Bahrain, in February 1993, it covered topics pertaining to economic development of the Arab countries in the nineties. The seven papers that were presented comprised economic reform in the Arab countries, including particularly structural issues; investment policies and capital flows; inter-Arab labor movements; environment and development; development of human resources; and European economic integration. An overview of the topics is presented by the seminar moderator, Said El-Naggar.

The Arab Spring protests caught most of the world by surprise and precipitated a chain of events that changed the course of history in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), ushering in a period of prolonged political instability and intense civil conflicts. The analysis of the Arab Spring aftermath sheds light on the interplay between economic, behavioral, institutional, and political factors that have influenced the transitions across the region and the risk of civil conflict. The study draws on four main bodies of literature on poverty and inequality, subjective well-being, civil conflict, and macroeconomics as well as on an eclectic mix of quantitative and qualitative methods and data. Given the complex nature of the Arab Spring and its aftermath, the study touches also on areas related to political economy and governance.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is an economically diverse region. Despite undertaking economic reforms in many countries, and having considerable success in avoiding crises and achieving macroeconomic stability, the region’s economic performance in the past 30 years has been below potential. This paper takes stock of the region’s relatively weak performance, explores the reasons for this out come, and proposes an agenda for urgent reforms.

This study analyzes the characteristics, motivations, strategies, and needs of FDI from emerging markets. It draws from a survey of investors and potential investors in Brazil, India, South Korea, and South Africa.

"This book is a unique source of information outlining the importance of Information Communication Technology (ICT) adoption and diffusion, covering the Arab world's strong need for access to information systems, while still paying close attention to their culture and localization of practices"--Provided by publisher.

The effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic development has been widely debated. However, the real challenge is not only to examine the effect of FDI on economic development but to also investigate the most appropriate economic policies that are conducive to increasing levels of FDI. Ashraf Mishrif here addresses this challenge and examines the interplay between external and internal forces to determine whether recent EU-Egyptian trade agreements have led to any significant improvement in Egypt's investment environment and in the growth levels of European direct investment in the.

This volume examines the economic and political incentives surrounding Arab regional integration. The contributors focus on three issues: the failure of past attempts at integration, the impact on countries involved in any future integration and the possible lessons from other regional experiences, particularly the European Union. A common theme is the importance of extending the reach of cooperation efforts beyond trade in goods.

Georgia’s reform trajectory has been nothing short of remarkable. In less than two decades, successive structural, regulatory and economic reforms have propelled Georgia from one of the poorest post-Soviet states to an upper-middle income economy.