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The Middle East/North Africa Economic Summits and Conferences

In October 1995, senior representatives from 70 countries and more than 1,000 international business leaders attended the Middle East/North Africa Economic Summit in Amman, Jordan. This was the second in the series of summits and conferences begun in Casablanca in 1994. Their purpose is to create a strong economic pillar that will help achieve and sustain peace in the Middle East. They emphasize a public-private partnership for economic development and seek ways to foster integration of business executives' views and concerns into government economic decisions, project development and presentation, and investment opportunities.

The success of the Amman Summit and the international consensus to hold two more meetings demonstrates how firmly this process is anchored in the center of efforts for regional development and cooperation and creation of a strong economic pillar for the peace process.

Amman Summit Accomplishments

At this summit, regional governments, supported by key states from outside the region as well as by the international business community, strengthened their commitment to the regional approach to economic development, with particular emphasis on economic reform and other actions attractive to the business community.

To help provide the structure needed to nurture this regional approach to development and to foster integration of valuable private sector views into economic decision-making, summit participants launched two regional institutions--the Regional Business Council and the Middle East and Mediterranean Tourism and Travel Association--both of which involve strong private as well as public participation. They also agreed to establish the Bank for Economic Cooperation and Development in the Middle East and North Africa to support private sector growth, regional infrastructure development, and regional economic cooperation.

The plenary sessions at the summit--devoted to trade and industry, infrastructure, investment and finance, and the economic environment--stressed the need for states in the region to adopt reform strategies, including privatization, to attract investment and spur growth. Regional states presented their plans to achieve these goals. Moreover, in anticipation of the summit, a number of regional states announced steps to accelerate their liberalization and restructuring.

Various workshops, thematic discussions, and briefings provided a venue for project presentations, debates on economic themes, and sectoral analyses by regional and international experts. These fora were supplemented by informal contacts, country luncheons, briefings, and numerous negotiations.

In addition to establishing the institutional basis for further cooperation, the summit also resulted in conclusion of a number of business deals, including a contract for a U.S. company to provide Internet services to Jordan, and another between Qatar and a U.S. firm to produce and transport natural gas to Israel and, possibly, to other Levantine states.

The 1996 Cairo Economic Conference

This conference is being held November 12-14 in Cairo, Egypt; the 1997 conference will be in Qatar, underscoring the growing and important role that Gulf states are playing in the conference process.

The U.S. Government, as co-chair of the Middle East peace process along with the Russian Federation, will work closely with the organizers of the conference--the World Economic Forum--as well as the Egyptian Government to ensure that the momentum generated by the Casablanca and Amman gatherings is maintained and strengthened. The U.S. also will continue its close collaboration with the U.S. business community to assure its participation in the public-private partnership.

Toni Verstandig, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State

Judith Barnett, Senior Adviser to the Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce

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