Economic integration, trade, investment and sectoral analyses

Scenarios for the Agricultural Sector in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean

The paper builds predictive scenarios for the agricultural sector of eleven southern and eastern Mediterranean countries (SEMCs), namely Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. First, it assesses the performance trends of the SEMCs’ agricultural sector, with a focus on production, consumption and trade patterns, incentives, trade protection policies and trade relations with the EU, productivity dynamics and their determinants.

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MEDPRO Rep No 4 WP5 Belghazi.pdf533.01 KB24142 days 2 hours ago
Date of publication: 
Tue, 05/03/2013
Author(s): 
Saad Belghazi
Institutions: IMRI

Economic Development, Trade and Investment in Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries: An Agenda towards a Sustainable Transition

This policy paper spells out the policy recommendations that emerge from a series of detailed studies undertaken for MEDPRO Work Package 5 on “Economic development, trade and investment” and presents detailed recommendations for the SEMCs and the EU in the areas of macroeconomic management, trade, investment, private sector development and privatisation, and sectoral policies.

Marek Dabrowski and Luc De Wulf are Fellows at CASE (Center for Social and Economic Research) in Warsaw.

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MEDPRO Rep No 4 WP5 Dabrowski and De Wulf.pdf256.42 KB23791 year 1 week ago
Date of publication: 
Fri, 22/02/2013
Author(s): 
Marek Dabrowski, Luc De Wulf
Institutions: CASE

What prospects for transport infrastructure and impacts on growth in southern and eastern Mediterranean countries?

Lack of adequate infrastructure is a significant inhibitor to increased trade of the countries of the Mediterranean region. Bringing their transport infrastructure to standards comparable with countries of a similar per capita GDP will be costly but worthwhile.

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MEDPRO Rep No 3 WP5 Carruthers.pdf2.68 MB18251 year 1 week ago
Date of publication: 
Thu, 21/02/2013
Author(s): 
Robin Carruthers
Institutions: CASE

What can Arab Countries Learn from the Post‐Communist Transition?

More than a year has passed since the start of the political uprising against the authoritarian regimes in the Arab world. But, as demonstrated by the ongoing unrest in Syria, the process is far from over.

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MEDPRO Com No 1 WP5 Dabrowski.pdf236.01 KB24181 year 1 week ago
Date of publication: 
Thu, 31/05/2012
Author(s): 
Marek Dabrowski
Institutions: CASE

Manufactured Exports and FDI in Southern Mediterranean Countries: Evolution, Determinants and Prospects

This paper investigates the evolution and determinants of manufactured exports and foreign direct investment (FDI) in 11 southern Mediterranean countries over the period 1985–2009 as well as their prospects under different scenarios pertaining to the development of the determinants. The econometric analysis confirms the role of exchange rate depreciation, the openness of the economy and the quality of institutions and infrastructure in fostering manufactured exports and FDI inflows in the region.

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MEDPRO TR No 14 WP5 Sekkat.pdf575.54 KB29413 days 21 hours ago
Date of publication: 
Tue, 24/04/2012
Author(s): 
Khalid Sekkat
Institutions: FEMISE

Shallow vs. Deep Integration in the Southern Mediterranean: Scenarios for the region up to 2030

This research develops a quantitative analysis aimed at simulating the trade effects of various integration scenarios between the EU and its Mediterranean Partners (MPs). Results for shallow integration show that the completion of tariff removal is expected to produce limited gains, except in Algeria. However, further steps toward deep integration would lead to much more significant gains. In this regard, the elimination of non-tariff barriers is expected to increase EU exports to MPs up to 60%.

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MEDPRO TR 13 Ghoneim et al Shallow vs Deep Integration.pdf609.73 KB37673 days 13 hours ago
Date of publication: 
Thu, 29/03/2012
Author(s): 
Ahmed Farouk Ghoneim, Nicolas Péridy, Javier Lopez Gonzalez and Maximiliano Mendez Parra
Institutions: CASE

Determinants of Growth and Inflation in Southern Mediterranean Countries

Despite significant economic reforms in many EU neighbouring countries in the Southern Mediterranean, their growth performance has on average been subdued. This study analyses the differences in growth performance and macroeconomic stability across Mediterranean countries, to draw lessons for the future. The main findings are that Southern Mediterranean countries should benefit from closer ties with the EU that result in higher levels of trade and FDI inflows, once the turbulence of the ‘Arab Spring’ is resolved, and from the development of financial markets and infrastructure.

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MEDPRO TR No 10 WP5 Coutinho.pdf693.04 KB58001 year 1 week ago
Date of publication: 
Fri, 16/03/2012
Author(s): 
Leonor Coutinho
Institutions: CCEIA

The EU-Turkey Customs Union: A Model for Future Euro-Med Integration

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MEDPRO TR No 9 WP5 Togan.pdf442.83 KB49904 days 11 min ago
Date of publication: 
Wed, 14/03/2012
Author(s): 
Sübidey Togan
Institutions: FEMISE

Tourism in the Mediterranean: Scenarios up to 2030

From 1990 to 2010, the 11 countries of the south-eastern Mediterranean region (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey, hereafter SMCs) recorded the highest growth rates in inbound world tourism. In the same period, domestic tourism in these countries also increased rapidly, which is astonishing given the security risks, natural disasters, oil prices rises and economic uncertainties in the region.

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MEDPRO TR No 1 WP5 Lanquar Update.pdf522.35 KB40082 days 16 hours ago
Date of publication: 
Tue, 26/07/2011
Author(s): 
Robert Lanquar
Institutions: CASE

Economic integration, trade, investment and sectoral analyses (Work Package 5)

The pace of economic growth has lagged behind other emerging economies during two decades: only in the early 2000’s there has been an improvement. This lag has translated into social unrest and despair among the workforce, creating major challenges for the governments in the region. Imprudent macroeconomic policies have fuelled inflation and poor economic integration has translated into trade and investment restrictive policies, with tariffs in some sectors averaging two digit levels.