Considers the economic and political characteristics of Egypt as a potential FTA partner. This book examines the benefits and challenges in pursuing bilateral negotiations with Egypt, examines the Bush proposal for a regional arrangement, and assesses the impact of a prospective FTA on other trading partners and on the multilateral trading system.

A Brookings Institution Press and the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies (ECES) publication Improving the economic performance of Arab countries is now more critical than ever. The region faces high population growth rates, rising unemployment, and modest economic growth coupled with increasingly intense competition from emerging markets in eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Meeting these challenges requires finding ways to overcome political obstacles that impede socially beneficial economic reforms. Despite fifty years of repeated attempts at Arab economic integration, the results in terms of intraregional trade and investment flows have been very modest. This book explains why and discusses possible ways forward. The authors draw especially on the success of the European Union to assess the scope of Arab economic integration as an instrument for narrowing the persistent gap between the region¡¯s economic potential and its performance.

How can the Bank refine its help to countries embarking on reform of public enterprises?

Monetary Policy and Exchange Rate Regimes: Options for the Middle East examines some of the most pressing issues facing policymakers today. The authors offer answers to such questions as: Are the choices of exchange rate regime limited to hard fixing or fully floating? Are capital flight and banking crises avoidable? What is the best way to coordinate monetary and fiscal policies? The answers to these questions draw on the vast literature available on these topics as well as the lessons learned from recent crises, especially in East Asia and Latin America. Beside its broad coverage, this volume includes rich analyses on specific countries of the Middle East. It merits a wide readership, but policymakers seeking to achieve macroeconomic stability and growth will find it particularly useful.

IFC Discussion Paper No. 22. Corporate finance in emerging market countries is changing dramatically as the recent liberalizations revitalize stagnant domestic capital markets and permit increased access to overseas markets. With this trend evident in many countries, corporations are re- examining their financial structures and finding more financial instruments to choose from. This paper discusses these new developments and examines the traditional features of emerging-market corporate finance. It presents a simple framework for the debt-equity choice based on considerations of cost, risk, control, and disclosure. The impact of these considerations on government control is also illustrated with examples from several emerging market countries.

This volume examines the economic problems of Arab countries following the Arab Spring. The authors argue that reforms need to accomplish four objectives: more opportunities for youth, modernization of the state, creation of a competitive private economy, and integration of Arab countries with the global economy.