Peter Walkenhorst

Trade competitiveness of the Middle East and North Africa : policies for export diversification

International trade was deeply affected by the global financial and economic crisis. Mimicking worldwide trends, imports from and exports to the Middle East and North Africa dropped significantly in 2009. This sudden decline in global trade should not divert attention away from four major developments in global economic integration that have shaped the regions trade policies and performance over the past decade: the emergence of global supply chains, the growth of trade in services, the rise of China and India as major international trading powers, and regional integration. The first development is the rise of global production networks in which different stages of the production of a single good occur at different locations. As a result of this development, consumer products often contain parts, components, and inputs from a large number of countries. The second major trend relates to trade in services. With the wave of liberalization and of information and communications-related technological developments, off-shoring in services such as back-office work processes, call center operations, medical transcription, accounting, and legal research has boomed. India is a good example of a country that has hugely benefited from this trend. The third important development is the emergence of China and India as new trade, innovation, and growth poles alongside the United States and Europe. The fourth development is the increase in regional and preferential trade agreements, which have been proliferating, not least because progress in multilateral trade negotiations under the auspices of the World Trade Organization has been slow. Integration with selected partners can help countries reap benefits from international integration while avoiding the large-scale adjustment needs that are often associated with broader-based trade reforms. The Middle East and North Africa comprises countries that are resource-poor but labor-abundant, resource-rich and labor-abundant, and resource-rich and labor-importing, each displaying its own idiosyncrasies. The eleven chapters of this volume examine the regions trade policy reforms and performance by focusing on the four key developments in international trade, with a twist. Instead of examining production chains as such, the volume focuses on export diversification (part one), a major development challenge in the region, especially for oil exporters. It then explores services trade (part two), the relations with China and India (part three), and regional integration (part four).

Tunisia's global integration : a second generation of reforms to boost growth and employment

This study on a world integration for Tunisia attempts to contribute to the achievement of the growth of the 11th development plan. It first takes stock of past integration policies, outlining policies implemented and assessing their impact on foreign direct investments (FDI), exports and employment. Then, it examines the current challenges of integration of Tunisia, which is both global and multisectoral pursuant to the actual creation of a free trade area with Europe for industrial products in January 2008. In the light of challenges expected, another generation of integration reform is identified to further improve the positioning of a competitive Tunisia and realize the potential growth in services. The report contains four chapters. Chapter one analyzes integration policies implemented since the early 70s and evaluates the impact thereof on the FDI, exports and employment. Chapter two examines the current challenges and major reforms necessary to correct the side-effects of past integration policies. Chapter three attempts to identify the reforms necessary to improve quality and lower prices of services. Finally, chapter four examines the prospects for export of professional services (accounting, auditing, legal services) and health by Tunisia, which showed a real capacity to compete in these areas in recent years.

Integration mondiale de la Tunisie : une nouvelle generation de reformes pour booster la croissance et l'emploi

This study on a world integration for Tunisia attempts to contribute to the achievement of the growth of the 11th development plan. It first takes stock of past integration policies, outlining policies implemented and assessing their impact on foreign direct investments (FDI), exports and employment. Then, it examines the current challenges of integration of Tunisia, which is both global and multisectoral pursuant to the actual creation of a free trade area with Europe for industrial products in January 2008. In the light of challenges expected, another generation of integration reform is identified to further improve the positioning of a competitive Tunisia and realize the potential growth in services. The report contains four chapters. Chapter one analyzes integration policies implemented since the early 70s and evaluates the impact thereof on the FDI, exports and employment. Chapter two examines the current challenges and major reforms necessary to correct the side-effects of past integration policies. Chapter three attempts to identify the reforms necessary to improve quality and lower prices of services. Finally, chapter four examines the prospects for export of professional services (accounting, auditing, legal services) and health by Tunisia, which showed a real capacity to compete in these areas in recent years.

Rationalising Public Expenditure in the Slovak Republic

Over the past decade, public expenditure in Slovakia was characterised by substantial social transfers and high public sector wage expenses. This paper analyses the main features of Slovakia’s public expenditure system, reviews expenditure trends, and discusses recent reform initiatives. The latter have concerned the introduction of medium-term budget projections, the switch towards performance-based budgeting, the limitation of extra-budgetary funds, the devolution of spending power to sub-central administrative units, changes to the public employment regime, and reforms of the social security system. These initiatives are critically assessed and a number of recommendations concerning implementation and further reform steps are developed ... Rationaliser les depenses publiques en Republique Slovaque Durant la derniere decennie, les depenses publiques en Slovaquie ont ete caracterisees par des transferts sociaux considerables et des substantielles depenses salariales dans le secteur public. Ce document examine les specificites du systeme de depenses publiques, passe en revue l’evolution des depenses et discute les initiatives de reforme recentes. Ces dernieres ont concerne la gestion des finances publiques dans un cadre de depenses a moyen terme, le changement vers un systeme base sur les objectifs budgetaires, la limitation des fonds extra-budgetaires, la devolution des responsabilites budgetaires vers les administrations locales et regionales, les changements dans le systeme d’emploi public, et des reformes dans le systeme de securite sociale. Ces initiatives sont evaluees de facon critique et un nombre de recommandations sont developpees concernant la mise en œuvre des changements et des etapes de reforme supplementaires ...