06/05/2007
Al-Akhbar Newspaper 2007/MAY /06
Al-Handasia Magazine 2007/JUNE /01
There is no doubt that the recent years have witnessed a new trend toward overcoming the obstacles to the Arab economic integration. This began with the implementation of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) in 1998 as a starting point for the Arab bloc. Over the past two years, the Arab economy has achieved relative unprecedented figures, hitting more than 7% of the GDP, which exceeded for the first time the $1 trillion threshold in 2005, hitting $1,052 billion. The inter-Arab investments increased significantly to $40 billion in 2006 compared with about $6 billion in 2004. ( Available in Arabic – German in PDF )
There is no doubt that the recent years have witnessed a new trend toward overcoming the obstacles to the Arab economic integration. This began with the implementation of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) in 1998 as a starting point for the Arab bloc. Over the past two years, the Arab economy has achieved relative unprecedented figures, hitting more than 7% of the GDP, which exceeded for the first time the $1 trillion threshold in 2005, hitting $1,052 billion. The inter-Arab investments increased significantly to $40 billion in 2006 compared with about $6 billion in 2004.