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Monday 6 November 2017

WPC: Middle East Called upon to Adopt Innovative Instruments to Manage this Crucial Stage in its History

Vocal synthesis
WPC: Middle East Called upon to Adopt Innovative Instruments to Manage this Crucial Stage in its History

The Middle East is called upon to adopt innovative instruments to be able to manage this crucial stage in its history, notably by developing real security architecture in the region, said, on Friday in Marrakech, Youssef Amrani, chargé de mission at the royal office.

"The Middle East is called upon to promote efficient and constructive regional integration for a better future for the region and its people," Amrani told a plenary session, held under the theme "Trends in the Middle East", as part of the 10th edition of the World Policy Conference (WPC).

To this end, the Middle East should promote a common strategy to face multifaceted challenges through the promotion of ambitious public policies that are better adapted to the socio-cultural and environmental realities of the region.

For his part, director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Jihad Azour, said the Arab world is in a post-oil economy, which requires a diversification of its economies, noting that the ultra-connected Arab youth are capable of transforming society through new technologies.

Azour also called for capitalizing on the youth by facilitating access to funding for Very Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and startups, and by supporting the spirit of initiative and the private sector because, he said, "employment in the public sector kills growth".

On his turn, Stuart Eizenstat, senior counsel at Covington & Burling LLP, noted that Morocco has made great progress in the fight against extremism.

"The Moroccan monarchy acts as a bulwark against fundamentalism," he said.

On the Arab-Israeli conflict, Eizenstat said that this is a priority for the current US administration, even though Israeli colonization complicates and delays any two-state solution.