The US economic plan is unfolding into expected actions for renegotiating or withdrawing from NAFTA; holding the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal targeting halting unfair imports and ending unfair trade practices. This added to Creating jobs and increasing spending on infrastructure along with tax cuts; which will be reflected in a rise in inflation, economic growth, and prompting the Federal Reserve towards raising interest rates at a faster pace.
The above said implies a stronger US dollar in 2017 and the emergence of a trade war between the US and China. A war that will run parallel to the current sluggish global economic growth, an even further drop in global trade and multiple bilateral trade deals. In light of the above-mentioned, Middle Eastern countries need to revive the Arab League’s economic union more towards activating a MENA united market cooperation pact. One based on cross consumption and production.
Developing our economic, financial and commercial relations within the MENA region needs a strong push towards integration of resources, joint-industries that serve our market requirements and thus substitute our component imports. This should go hand in hand with developing our presence in regional markets through developing the network of infrastructure and transport in order to fulfil the African markets needs.
In developing such an integrated network of cooperation, I recall the OPEC Oil cartel in the 70s ; who united had the market power to set strict quotas and made the decision to raise prices by cutting supply, an action that yielded prosperity. With today’s competing energy resources , it is no longer about the power of controlling a product, especially that competition may aggressively develop into lower profit margins in order to sustain market shares.
Unifying our economic powers means integrating our full resources ; which includes: human resources, capital & natural resources. This keeping in mind that proximity of regional markets are calling for us to join efforts in a strategy and clear future vision, one that can take us to a place that the whole region is qualified for and deserves.
