Prospects for future economic integration among the League of Arab States
The League of Arab States (LAS) was formed in 1945 with the objective of unifying the Arab countries through political, educational, cultural and economic cooperation. In its efforts to expand the traditional focus of attention beyond political issues, it has placed an equally important attention...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2008
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/24427/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/24427/1/prospects_for_future_economic_integration.pdf |
| Summary: | The League of Arab States (LAS) was formed in 1945 with the objective of unifying the Arab
countries through political, educational, cultural and economic cooperation. In its efforts to expand
the traditional focus of attention beyond political issues, it has placed an equally important
attention on economic matters whereby the Economic and Social Council of the League adopted
resolution No. 1317 of the 1980 Amman Summit declaring the establishment of a Pan-Arab Free
Trade Area. In the light of this recent development, it is therefore, important to first investigate
whether or not the LAS possesses the necessary prerequisites for a successful regional trade
arrangement. This paper examines the trade structure among five LAS members, namely Egypt,
Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Oman by analyzing their dynamic exports as well as their "trade
concentration", and "trade divergence" profiles between the years 1990 and 2003. In general,
the findings indicate that the eXisting trade structure may not facilitate intra-regional trade among
LAS members. Divergence estimates indicate that only Jordan shows prospects for greater
regional exports while the prospects for Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Syria do not appear to
be encouraging. Except for Jordan, exports are found to be highly concentrated especially for
Saudi Arabia and Syria. Therefore, based on the findings there is a need for these countries to
realign their trade policies in order to promote a more favorable environment for the creation of
the Pan-Arab Free Trade Area. |
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