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The Department for Economic Integration of the League of Arab States organized a videoconference seminar on the “implications of the new Corona virus on the Great Arab Free Trade Zone and on inter-Arab trade”, in collaboration with the Arab Monetary Fund, the Development Program of the United Nations and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
Dr Bahjat Abu Al-Nasr, Director of the Arab League Economic Integration Department, said the seminar provided an opportunity for Arab officials interested in trade issues to learn about the latest data and expectations issued by international institutions and on the effects of the new Corona virus on international and Arab economies.
Abu Al-Nasr indicated in press statements that “the seminar provided a platform for meeting policy makers in Arab countries with experts from international and regional organizations interested in economic and trade issues, and for exchanging experiences on national measures, policies and the practices adopted by countries to address the negative effects of the emerging Corona virus and to consider the main challenges that countries will face in the coming period and how to use Arab economic integration as a tool to overcome them.
Abu Al-Nasr said participants discussed in more depth the impact of the pandemic on international and inter-Arab trade in goods and services and the Greater Arab Free Trade Area, and also discussed the development of a number of recommendations related to trade policies at the regional level and an action plan on subsequent interventions as part of strengthening the integration process. Arab economist.
Preliminary estimates by “ESCWA” indicate that the Arab region could lose $ 42 billion of GDP and the unemployment rate in the region could increase by 1.2 percentage points due to the outbreak of the virus. This means that the region could lose at least 1.7 million jobs in 2020, and between January and mid-March 2020, companies in the region experienced huge losses in market capital, in the range of $ 420 billion, the resulting loss. equivalent to 8 in Percentage of the total wealth of the region.
While an Arab League report stated that in order to mitigate the expected negative economic and social impacts of this pandemic on individuals and businesses, and thus on the economic performance of Arab countries, Arab countries have taken many measures to mitigate these effects at the national. However, there is an urgent need for cooperation at the regional level, as individual countries will not be able to fully address the crisis.
The report added that although in some cases the virus requires the expulsion of patients and the closure of borders, these measures cannot be prescriptions for the long-term economic well-being of the Arab region. Arab national economies cannot thrive on their own, especially as foreign trade accounts for nearly 60% of their GDP. As the virus recedes, Arab countries will need to intensify trade and cooperation to strengthen the digital economy and exploit the opportunities that will become available in global value chains.
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