Knowledge Economies in the Middle East and North Africa : Toward New Development Strategies

Aubert, Jean-Eric ; Reiffers, Jean-Louis

Washington, DC:World Bank

关键词: ARABLE LAND;    BENCHMARK;    BENCHMARKING;    BUDGET CONSTRAINTS;    CAPITAL MARKETS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/0-8213-5701-8
RP-ID  :  28038

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This book analyzes the development ofknowledge-based economies in the Middle East and NorthAfrica (MENA). Its principal messages are: Because of theso-called "knowledge revolution" resulting fromthe rapid growth in information and communicationtechnologies (ICT), the acceleration of technical change andthe intensification of globalization, a new form of economicdevelopment is taking shape worldwide. The knowledgerevolution presents MENA countries with challenges andopportunities. They need to take advantage of this newsource of growth and employment. To date, relatedinvestments in education, information infrastructure,research and development (R&D), and innovation have beeninsufficient or inappropriate in most MENA countries.Moreover, inadequate economic and institutional frameworksprevent these investments from yielding desired results.MENA countries risk falling further behind in the worldeconomy. Urgent action is needed to advance structuralreform and to intensify and adapt knowledge-relatedinvestments. These messages concur with those of twoimportant recent reports on Arab economies by the UnitedNations Development Programme (UNDP, 2002) and the WorldEconomic Forum (2003). While there seems to be agreement onwhat needs to be done in the region, the question of how toachieve the desired results is unfortunately often leftunexplored. This is to be the focus of further World Bank conferences.