Executive summary

The efforts made by the Arab countries in 2006 to enhance their integration into the world economy produced varying results. Their share of world trade and revenues from tourism saw a slight increase; the former increased by 4.1 per cent compared with 3.9 per cent in 2005; the latter grew by nearly 178 per cent in five years from US$ 15.1 billion in 2001 to US$ 42 billion in 2006. Furthermore, foreign exchange reserves in the Arab world grew slightly in 2006 to reach 5.5 per cent of the world total, in comparison with 5,2 per cent in 2005. On the other hand, foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into the Arab countries in 2006 declined a little as a percentage of global FDI inflows, reaching 4.78 per cent compared with 4.87 per cent in 2005 and less than 1 per cent in 2001. In addition, natural gas reserves dropped to 29.4 per cent in 2006, compared with 32.1 per cent in 2005.

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development