Jobs, Growth, Fairness Top List of Priorities for Arab Countries

Amman conference airs diverse views on way forward for region

Priorities include creating jobs, improving business climate, enhancing governance

Reform agenda to be taken forward by each Arab country in transition

Nearly 300 senior policymakers, private sector representatives, civil society, academics, and media gathered in Amman on May 11-12 to discuss the main elements of an economic vision for the region. More than three years since the onset of fundamental economic and political transitions in many countries in the Arab world, economic stabilization is underway, but the challenge now is to move from stabilization to growth.

Participants debated issues in four main areas: how to achieve macroeconomic stability in the region, create more jobs for the young, improve the business climate, and enhance transparency and governance in both the public and private sectors.

While each country faces its own unique challenges, participants acknowledged, a common policy priority across the region is to boost employment, especially among the young.

“The growth that the region is seeing, at about 3 percent, would have to significantly increase in order to respond to the demands of a youth population that is waiting to join the job market,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told the gathering.

Challenges of transition

Jointly organized by the IMF, the government of Jordan, and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the conference opened with a day of workshops designed to gather participants’ views on the main topics of the conference. After a discussion, the audience was asked to vote on their top three policy priorities for each. The results were then generated through an electronic voting mechanism. On the second day, panels comprising ministers of finance and economy and central bank governors from the region discussed these priorities and possible policy solutions.

In the opening session on the challenges of economic transitions in the Arab economies, Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour discussed his own country’s experience with reform. He attributed the success of Jordan’s reforms in part to the fact that the government was honest with the people and sought their buy-in, allowing it to gain credibility. “We gave the people the facts, both bitter and sweet,” Ensour said.

Lagarde agreed that government honesty and credibility were key, especially with regard to such sensitive topics as subsidy reform. When reducing...