Alexandria, Egypt, May 17-21, 2009

Sustainability of growth is a challenge in many countries.

Previous Event: Developing Knowledge Economy Strategies to Improve Competitiveness, Seoul, Korea, July 2008

The application of knowledge - as manifested in areas such as entrepreneurship and innovation, research and development, software and product design, and in people’s education and skills levels - is now recognized to be one of the key sources of growth in the global economy.

But, sustainability of growth is a challenge in many countries both due to internal pressures linked to emerging skills shortages as well as to external competitiveness pressures linked to the intensified market rivalries brought on by the knowledge and ICT-spurred globalization process. These trends make it very important for economies to be well prepared to be able to adapt, create, use, and disseminate knowledge.

Many countries are already seizing opportunities to move ahead on the knowledge economy (KE), and are seeking new and innovative ways of boosting their growth and competitiveness. A knowledge economy is one that has the policies, institutions, and capabilities in place to make effective use of knowledge to further its economic and social development. It is not the domain of only the few that have moved ahead; developing countries must exploit the opportunities presented by the global knowledge revolution to reduce poverty and promote economic and social development. By building on their strengths and by planning appropriate investments in human capital, effective institutions, relevant technologies, and innovative and competitive enterprises, they too can capitalize on the knowledge era and make the transition to the KE.

The World Bank Institute’s (WBI) Knowledge for Development (K4D) program has designed a broad-based learning course which allows participants to engage in a process of developing coherent KE strategies in their countries. The main aim of this course is to have a broad discussion with a wide range of stakeholders from government, private sector, and civil society on how countries can leverage their potential to further compete in the global KE, and identify appropriate processes and policies that can help them achieve their goals. The course focuses on policy strategies, concrete case studies, exchange of experiences, and analytical tools that can help to benchmark progress on the KE

Why a learning event on the knowledge economy for MENA Countries?

There is a strong business case for building knowledge economies in MENA countries:

• Finiteness of oil and gas reserves;
• Economic vulnerability due to global price fluctuations of natural resources;
• MENA countries’ long-term interest in developing a sophisticated, entrepreneurial and creative population;
• The need to develop industries and services that are competitive on the global market;
• Long-term sustainability of economic growth.

MENA countries do however face several challenges to become successful Knowledge Economies:

• Investment in science and technology, including IT infrastructure, is low across Arab countries, even by developing country standards. Furthermore, the outcomes of these investments in terms of patents and academic citations are also quite low.
• The skills of Engineers and scientists trained locally are not necessarily in adequation with the local labor market demandes. As a result, science and engineering graduates cannot compete on the job market and therefore have above average rates of unemployment.
• The recent MENA Education Flagship Report “The Road Not Traveled – Education Reform in the Middle East and Africa” (see Materials) concludes furthermore that the relationship between education and economic growth has remained weak; the divide between education and employment has not been bridged; and the quality of education continues to be disappointing.
• Arab countries’ ability to take advantage of global knowledge and technology development seems to be low. There is a lag of technology hubs in Arab countries compared to developing countries such as e.g. Brazil, India and China.

The interest and awareness of Knowledge Economy visions, strategies and plans have gained ground in several MENA countries. They see the need to diversify their economies towards more knowledge-intensive products and services. They have a long-term interest in developing a more sophisticated, entrepreneurial and creative population and more attractive job opportunities for highly skilled young people, that the Knowledge Economy provides.

The learning event on “Developing Knowledge Economy Strategies to Improve Competitiveness in MENA countries” is of high relevance and timely. It serves as a platform for sharing visions, strategies and practices that have worked in promoting Knowledge Economy projects across MENA countries and in some selected successful Knowledge Economies.