Resource information
Recent economic and political
developments have highlighted a challenge shared across the
Arab region of generating employment, promoting inclusive
growth, and improving competitiveness. In the short run,
weakened macroeconomic fundamentals in the developing
economies of the Middle East and North Africa are a key
challenge. The region's main challenge is to achieve
sustainable growth that delivers the quantity and quality of
jobs needed. An inclusive and competitive private sector has
proven to be one of the most effective and long-term
solutions for this challenge. This paper provides an
analytical framework to diagnose and identify key challenges
to the growth of small and medium enterprises that is
supported by a quantitative model based on the World
Bank's Enterprise Surveys database. The findings
reconfirm that the route to a sustained role for small and
medium enterprises in job creation requires improving the
credibility of reforms, the effectiveness of policies, and
equitable enforcement. Although one size fits all is
infeasible for Arab countries, it is important to design
policies across sectors to create productive employment and
promote economic growth. Supporting innovation and enhancing
access to finance are central to the development agenda for
small and medium enterprises. And creating an enabling
environment and setting up accountable institutions are key
to ensure equal opportunity and inclusive growth.
