CHAPTER 13
Broader Middle East and North Africa
Starting in 2003 an
important new dialogue began between (1) the countries of the Broader Middle
East and North Africa (BMENA) and (2) the United States and other G8
countries. By the summer of 2004, the
leaders from the G8 and BMENA officially launched the Forum for the Future at
the Summit in Sea Island, Georgia. The
Forum supports efforts to advance political and economic freedom in the
region. There are two main channels of
the Forum, corresponding to the promotion of economic freedom (mainly finance
ministries) and political freedom (mainly foreign affairs ministries).
Treasury Secretary
John Snow led the finance ministry channel of the Forum during its start-up
phase. He hosted several meetings with
regional finance and economic ministers - beginning in Dubai in 2003 and
continuing with two meetings in Washington in 2004. In December 2004 he joined
Moroccan Finance Minister Oualalou to co-chair the
finance minister channel in Rabat.
Setting up these
meetings was difficult because of understandable sensitivities, and one of the
first meetings could be described as s bit tense and rocky. Emphasizing country
ownership of reforms was essential, but country ownership was always a principle of the Bush
Administration and genuinely part of the Forum for the Future from the U.S.
perspective. By the meeting in Rabat, it
was clear that this was going to be a productive and action oriented group, and
the last meeting I attended in Washington in April 2005 pointed to even greater
decrees of cooperation. I believe that
this new partnership is one of the most important and exciting developments in
the area of international economic cooperation in many years.
The speeches in this
chapter all come from the years 2004 and 2005, reflecting the fact that this
initiative was developed later in the first term and was related to the
encouragement of greater political freedom in the region, which in turn is
related to the global war on terror.
Item 1 shows using
modern growth theory that people’s lives in the region could be improved
greatly by a greater degree of economic freedom. Regrettably, for years economic progress in
the region has been hampered by many restrictions on trade and
entrepreneurship. Items 2 through 5
describe several aspects of the forum itself.
1. Economic
Growth in the Greater Middle East, International Monetary Fund,
Washington, DC, April 7, 2004
2. Encouraging
Economic Freedom in the Broader Middle East and North Africa, American Chamber of Commerce,
3. The
Governance/Investment Nexus: Measuring Results for Better Performance, Good Governance for Development in the
Arab Countries Conference,
4.
Working
Together to Raise Economic Growth in the Broader Middle East and North Africa,
World Economic Forum, Davos,
5. The
Private Sector’s Role in Promoting Economic Growth in the Broader Middle East,
World Economic Forum, Davos, January 28,
2005