Management in Middle East and North Africa - Essay Example

Management in Middle East and North Africa Contents Contents 1 Introduction 3 Definition of “service” 5 Structure and significance of the service sector in Morocco 7 Tourism services 7 Information technology services 8 Telecommunication services 9 Retail services 10 Financial services 10 Structure and significance of the service sector in Qatar 12 Tourism and hospitality 12 Information Technology 13 Telecommunication 13 Banking and finance 13 Retail 14 Structure and significance of the service sector in Lebanon 16 Tourism 16 Commercial services 17 Financial services 18 19 Comparison and contrast of service sector in three economies: Morocco, Qatar, Lebanon 20 Conclusion 23 References 25 Introduction The service sector has become increasingly important in the global economic environment. It is a crucial segment for revenue generation and the development of economies across the world. The service sector of a country can be identified as the lifeline for the economic and social growth of the country. The service industry is the fastest growing segment in the world and is the highest contributor of global output and employment among all the global business sectors. The increase in the level of privatization and urbanization along with more demand for final and intermediate consumer services have been the major drivers of the increasing importance of the global service sector. The availability of high quality of services is critical for the overall development of an economy. In the developed economies, the growth of both primary and secondary sectors is based on the growth of the main industries in the service sector like banking, trade, tourism, entertainment, education, insurance, hospitality, transport, retail etc. Both developed and developing countries are focusing on setting up a profitable and sustainable services sector in order to remain competitive in the evolving economic world. The changing demands and preferences of the global consumers have made service industry a necessity as well as an opportunity for different countries in order to develop their economies and position themselves as strong nations in the world. The increasing number and levels of cross border transactions driven by globalisation and liberalization has increased the demand for highly functional and beneficial service industries in different countries. The countries in the Middle East are competing on a global level through effective innovation and impotence given to the services sectors in these countries. The Middle Eastern countries like Qatar and Morocco have identified the importance of developing their service sectors to maintain sustainability in the evolving global world. The North African countries like Lebanon are seeing an increase in the investments and trade practices. The North African countries are developing after the advent of globalization. In this respect, they are focusing on improving the service sectors in the regions. Unlike other economies, Lebanon does not focus on a wide array of service industries. The country thrives mainly on commerce, tourism and banking industries in the services sector. Morocco and Qatar, on the other hand have multiple high performing industries in their services sector. International trade is a major service sector in Lebanon whereas other service industries like Information technology, retail and utilities have not been established stringy in the country. Definition of “service” The concept of “service” may be explained as an intangible commodity or economic product that could be consumed by the purchaser under the contract with the seller. In the transaction of services in the economy, the buyer does not enjoy exclusive ownership on the service that could be perceived as an intangible economic good. The services offered in the economy may be categorized as public service or private service. The delivery of services in the economy is made possible though a planned approach of gathering the required resources, knowledge, skill and experience in order to provide the required service. The increase in the delivery of services in an economy and the participation of various companies and players in the industry of service deliveries in various business activities lead to the formation of the service sector in the economy. The lucrative aspect of the service sector in the eyes of business functioning in an economy lay in the relaxation of the restrictions imposed due to the maintenance of stock and inventory (Dee, 2003, p.285). Due to less concerns over handling of business stocks and materials in the inventory, the cost of inventory management could be used by the business in the areas of service marketing in case of increased competition in the service sector. The operations of the service sector requires fulfilment of various factors which include the presence of the service provides, suppliers of resources for the delivery of service, infrastructure for processing the service requirements, presence of adequate number of clients who demands the service and the ability of the service provided to be able to fulfil the requirement of the client. The various characteristics of the services offered by the service sector include the features of being an intangible, perishable, inseparable, unique product that has the potential to produce deep impact on the economy. By intangibility of services, it is meant that the services do not exist in physical form and could not be touched. The perishable feature of service denotes that the services being not in physical form are likely to be non-existent in future. The service delivery process includes the involvement of service provider as well as the clients. In economies where there is increase in the number of companies operating in the service sector, the impact on the economic growth in such companies is immense (Findlay and Warren, 2000, p.28). The services are provided to the customers at specific delivery points aimed at providing customer benefits with continuous efforts of improvement through feedback and support. Structure and significance of the service sector in Morocco The economy of Morocco has undertaken economic reforms from the year of 1993 and has allowed privatization in several economic sectors. The various business activities prevalent in the economy of Morocco include the industries in sectors like manufacturing, mining, construction and services in the sectors of tourism, retail, information technology, telecommunication and finance. The service sector of Morocco accounts for about 40% of the GDP of the country (OECD, 2008, p.448). Morocco is one the major economies in the region of North Africa and is placed in the second position in terms of economic competitiveness in the region of North Africa. The service sector has played a significant role in enhancing Morocco’s economic competitiveness in the region of North Africa. The structure of the service sectors in Morocco could be understood from the explanation of services offered by the service providers in the business of tourism, information technology, telecommunication, finance and retail. Tourism services The expenditures incurred for the services sectors constitute the cost incurred by both the government as well as private business enterprises. From the time of 1990s, the government started to privatize its economy by allowing more investments in the areas of tourism. The economy of Morocco underwent huge volumes of capital investments for the growth and development of tourism in order to meet the international demands of the tourists entering into the economy from parts of Europe and Africa (Anderson and Neary, 1994, p.158). Based on the increasing number of tourists entering into Morocco in millions, the government has strategically focused on improving the infrastructure through provision of more accommodation, utility and food services to the tourists. The tourism services have generated a significant share of GDP and Balance of payments in Morocco economy as shown below in graphical form (The World Bank Group, 2014, p.1). Morocco has a cultural mix with the European due to its location vicinity with Europe. In order to tap the potential demand of the tourism services by more number of Europeans entering the economy, the tourism services have been improved in the country through construction of more holiday homes in the Atlantic coast and Mediterranean. Information technology services The services in the field of information technology have become increasingly significant over the years due to the increasing prospects of the increase in e-commerce. The use of credit card and online business transactions are on the rise in the economy of Morocco. This has increased the significance of Information Technology Services in the country. Although the penetration of internet and ITES firms in the Moroccan market is low, the country has high prospect of providing outsourced services to the businesses in the areas of managing their business process and knowledge services. This could be reflected from the growth of informational and technology services in the economy from $1.6B to $3.4B during the period of 2004 to 2013. This is due to the fact that the government has encouraged ITES firms to invest in the Moroccan service sector in order to increase the competitiveness of economic environment for IT services in the country (The World Bank Group, 2014, p.2). Telecommunication services The telecommunication services in the economy of Morocco contribute about 10% of the GDP of the country. The increase in the number of fixed as well as mobile phone service providers have occurred in the economy due to the graduals increase in the demand for telecommunication services. This has laid to the establishment of international call centre and increase in the number of job openings in the economy. The level of education and the training provided to the employees in the telecommunication services are keys to growth of the service sector in Morocco (Konan and Maskus, 2006, p.162). Retail services The retail sector in Morocco contributes about 13% of the total GDP of the Moroccan economy. The services for the retail sectors are provided by about 15% of the total work force of Morocco. Due to the increase in the investments in the retail sector stimulated by the liberalization of the Moroccan economy, the retail services have increased as the domestic and international brands focused on catering to the demands of the economy. Although the average purchasing power has been low, the rise in the income level of the population and economic demands has led to the increase of manpower services in the form of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labour to provide retail services in the economy. Financial services The financial services in the Moroccan economy have also increased in tandem with the increasing interest for investment in the economy. The increase in the financial services could be observed due to the change in the banking policies where the commercial banks have embarked on offering more credit to the business for the purpose of investment. The structure of the services in the financing operations to the businesses include the credit lending done by the local banks of Morocco as well as foreign financial institutions which have started to acquire controlling stakes in the financial sector (Mattoo, Stern and Gianni, 2008, p.47). The shift in focus of the financial services from the low return but relatively safe finances of the public sector to high return but relatively risky finances to the private sector in the Moroccan economy has laid to the increase in services in the financial sector of Morocco. Structure and significance of the service sector in Qatar The service sector is one of the most dynamic and pivotal sectors in the economy of Qatar. The major industries operating in the service sector of Qatar are banking, finance and insurance, aviation, transport, telecommunications, hospitality, healthcare organizations, education services and institutes, utility providers, retail industry and government departments and government ministries. Tourism and hospitality Qatar is concentrating on premium level tourism including the business segment in order to grow the industry. In the recent years, Qatar has been established as a major transit hub. This is mainly due to the expansion of the aviation industry in the country. The expansion of the network of routes in the Qatar Airways have made it a common stopover market in the peninsula and has enabled the country to be strongly established in the global tourism arena (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2013, p.20). Due to these improvements, the local travel retailers have introduced new stopover packages with the aim to tap in the opportunities in the tourism and hospitality sector. The increasing popularity of Qatar as a major business hub in the Middle East and the various exhibitions and trade events organized in Doha have increased the inbound tourist activities in the country. Qatar has obtained the rights of hosting the FIFA world cup in 2022 which has given a major boost to the tourism sector. The Qatar tourism sector is the most attractive and profitable among the tourism sectors in all the GCC countries (The World Bank, 2009, p.10). But the leisure travel activities in the country are still weak as compared to other competing countries like Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Information Technology The Information Technology industry in Qatar demonstrates the potential for significant growth. The IT market is much supported and boosted by the government of Qatar. The service sector benefits from the high level of private consumption based on the high spending levels in the country and the comparatively wealthy population in Qatar. The investments of the government as well as the private sector companies to improve the information technology systems and infrastructure is likely to improve the functionality and the profitability of the IT sector. The operational efficiencies of this sector are aimed to be improved for diversifying the economy and improving the overall performance of the service sector in the country. Telecommunication The telecommunication industry in Qatar is highly valued in the global telecommunication industry. The telecommunication companies operating in the sector are supported by high revenues. The telecommunication sector includes broadband, mobile and fixed line services all of which have shown continuous subscription growth from 2010-2013. There is strong competition between the major two players Vodafone and Oredoo (The World Bank, 2010, pp.4-5). This service sector is expected to focus on converged services and high value data for sustainability advantages in the future. Banking and finance The banking industry in Qatar is a high performing service sector and most of the banks posted profits during the financial crisis of 2008. The banking and finance industry is regulated by the Islamic modes of financing (Hossain, 2008, pp.102-103). The implementation of the Islamic financing makes the sector compliant with the citizens and helps it to serve them better. Though this industry faces some issues related to reluctance in lending, decrease of customer confidence and liquidity issues, yet this service sector is still a strong performer in Qatar. The banking and finance sector is concentrated with few large players dominating the sector and operating under stringent rules (World Economic Forum, 2011, p.15). Retail The retail sector in Qatar is experiencing a boom. A number of new retail chains are establishing their businesses in the country. The high growth economy makes the retail sector a lucrative market for the foreign multinational to enter into. Though, retail is declining in the global perspective because of the advent of e-commerce, Qatar is experiencing high demand for expansion of retail businesses (International Monetary Fund, 2011, p.16). The government of Qatar is focusing on making the economy of Qatar more service oriented. This is due to the increasing importance of service economies in the global business environment. Then main objective of the service sector in Qatar is to achieve the welfare of the residents and citizens of the region. The high scale of economic growth and the magnitude of the projects in pipelines have made Qatar a prime region in the Gulf area for foreign investment as well as tourist visits. The companies across the world are taking aggressive steps to enter into the market of Qatar (Aces and Autio, 2010, p.312). This has given more boosts to the service sector in the region. The service sector of Qatar is one of the fastest growing segments in the country, with the telecommunication and aviation industries being the most developed among the service industries (Ibrahim and Harrigan, 2012, p.5). Since the economy of Qatar is growing at an accelerated rate, it would need major service industries to support the growth and diversification of the economy. As the Qatar economy is growing at a high rate, the need for legal, financial and other professional services is emerging out of the economy (Shochat, 2008, p.90). The long term vision of the Qatar government to create a sustainable economy encompasses three interconnected objectives (Fuchs, 2001, p.118). The Qatar government aims to develop and expand the entrepreneurial capabilities and innovation, to create a high standard of living, and to streamline the financial and economic stability with the economic outcomes in the country. The service sector is expected to play an important role in achieving these objectives in the Qatar market (Sullivan and Medez, 2011, p.34). Composition of national output in Qatar (Source: Qatar Development Planning, 2010, p.8) Structure and significance of the service sector in Lebanon The economy of Lebanon is a developing economy that has attained growth and development due to the policies on privatization of the industries and the services. The service sector in economy which is dominated by the private enterprises in Lebanon has a contribution of around 60% to the GDP of the country. The growth of Lebanese economy is centred round the performance of the businesses like tourism, commerce and banking which are heavily service-oriented. In order to stimulate the growth of the service sector, the government has adopted the policy of removing all restrictions in the movement of foreign capital. The economic reforms and the policies of relaxation in the movement of foreign capital have led to the increase in the investments in the economy. The increase in economic demands in Lebanon has been met by the increase in service majorly in the banking sector. Due to the promotion of the international brand image of Lebanon, the number of tourists entering the country has increased. The structure of the service sector in Lebanon is concentrated mainly into the tourism and banking sector of the economy. The structure of the service sector in Lebanon is extremely significant looking at its potential to meet the economic demands of Lebanon (European Commission, 2013, p.1). Tourism The tourism services have flourished in the economy of Lebanon due to its favourable geographical position, scenic beauty and mountain views. The climate and natural beauty of Lebanon has attracted the tourists from all over the world. The growth of tourism in Lebanon has been supported by the availability of human resources in the economy. The infrastructure of tourism in Lebanon highlights the presence of high quality hotels and resorts, skiing and sports, entertainment facilities in the economy. In the tourism services provided in the economy, the government has looked to incorporate the use of technology in modernizing the tourism services and facilities. All these developments have led to the sustenance of substantial travel and tourism services as a part of the total exports of the service sector (The World Bank Group, 2014, p.3). Commercial services The growth of services due to the increase in the trade and commerce in Lebanon is notable. The Port of Beirut has been an important port in the Arab world that has served as the gateway for exports and imports of trade and commerce of the entire Arab world. The Port of Beirut has undergone major reconstruction over the years in order to enhance its capacity to support trade and commerce through services offered by the people working in the port. The expansion of the trade and commerce in the Port of Beirut has led to the engagement of large number of workers that has stimulated the growth of commercial service exports as represented below in graphical form (The World Bank Group, 2014, p.4). Financial services The service sector of the Lebanese economy is largely boosted by the growth of financial services in the economy which includes mainly commercial banking, investment banking and insurance services. Although the economy of Lebanon witnessed the emergence of large number of small banks, the commercial banks have played the key role in the development of the Lebanese economy. The policies of government to allow the movement of foreign capital into the economy was facilitated by the commercial banks that have led to the increasing support services to the business investing into the Lebanese economy. Several institutions were able to acquire sources of funds in the local market of Lebanon being supported by the financial services in the economy. The lending of the commercial credits rose in order to meet the increasing demand of the investors as represented in the graphical form given below (The World Bank Group, 2014, p.5). The increase in income level of middle income group has increased the demand for insurance services in the economy. The customized services provided by the insurance sector have been able to cater to the needs of the people. The increase in the insurance services, commercial and investments services were facilitated by the establishment of the favourable regulatory framework in the Lebanese economy. The favourable regulatory framework has led to the sustainability of financial services over the last ten years with a huge spike in the credit lending in the Lebanese economy from 2006 to 2008. The high rate of commercial lending over a long period of time is expected to continue due to the favourable financial climate in Lebanon. Comparison and contrast of service sector in three economies: Morocco, Qatar, Lebanon The structure and significance of the service sector in Morocco, Qatar and Lebanon could be compared as follows. The comparison of the structure and performance of the services sectors in these economies highlights the commonalities and the differences in the functioning of the service sector in these economies. The commonalities of the functioning of the service sector in the three economies indicate that the government in the all the three countries have adopted economic reforms and set up favourable infrastructure for the growth of investments (Mcguire and Schuele, 2000, p.23). In order to cater to their respective economic demands, these countries in the MENA region have focussed on the utilization of the resources that includes the human resource, knowledge, skills and technological benefits and provide services to the customers in order to meet the demand. The service sectors in these countries that deals with the delivery of intangible goods have played a significant role in the boosting the growth of the economy. The service sectors in the economies of Morocco, Lebanon and Qatar have contributed significant share in the GDP production of the country. The operations of the service sector in these economies have occurred in the areas of tourism, information technology, telecommunications, retail and the financial sector (Vayanos and Hammoud, 2007, p.98). The favourable geographical locations and scenic beauties supported by the hospitality services of each of these economies have made these countries preferred destination for the tourists. In order to meet the potential demands of the customers and prospects of economic growth, the government have adopted different policies on economic growth (Konan and Assche, 2007, p.896). Although the significance of the service sector in stimulating economic growth have been common for all the economies, the governments of Qatar, Lebanon and Morocco have adopted different structures and policies for enhancing the role of the service sector for their economic development. The difference in the structures and policies laid down by the government pertaining to the service sector in order to provide the economic stimulus have been discussed as follows. The government of Morocco have focussed on improving the services in the industries of tourism, telecommunication, information technology, retail and finance. The tourism industry in Morocco witnessed increase in investments by the government and encouragement of the private enterprises to invest in the tourism service industry (Trewin, 2000, p.45). The development of hotels and resorts, human resources took place in Morocco as part of the restructuring arrangements put in place by the government. The penetration of the service sectors spread to the industries of information technology services, telecommunication services as well as well. Although the penetration of the internet and mobile devices have been low in Morocco, the government has encourage private sectors to invest in information and communication technologies, development of international call centres, etc. The financial services have also looked to offer increasing credit in order to meet the demand of the investors (Fawzy, 2002, p.56). In comparison to the wide spread presence of service sector in the Moroccan economy, the economy of Lebanon has been purely service oriented with high degree of focus on the financial services, tourism and commerce. Due to the capacity of the Port of Beirut to cater to the Arab world, the Lebanese government has focussed on developing the services of the Port through restructuring and capacity enhancement facilities (OECD, 2013, p.64). This has led to the increase in the trade and commerce in Lebanon. The natural beauty of the location has also attracted many tourists which impacted the economic demand in a positive manner. In order to support the rise in trade and commerce and tourism, the financial services in the economy of Lebanon has been increased (The Embassy of Lebanon, 2014, p.1). The financial institutions have focussed on enhancing their operations and increased their limits of lending in order to support the increasing business and trade in the economy. In comparison to Morocco and Lebanon, the service sector in Qatar has been dependent on the aviation services and transportation services that are driven largely due to its dependence on the oil and gas. The huge reserves of oil and gas in the Qatari economy have led to the increase in focus of the government towards the improvement of facilities of the aviation sector (Findlay and Round, 2006, p.262). This has maximized the employment opportunities in the service sector of Qatar. The development of human resources in the service sector of Qatar is significant as its aviation industry transfers large number of visitors to various destinations. The improving performance of the service sector in industries like aviation, petrochemical, etc have led to the increase in investments in the economy have been supported by the growth of financial services (Nguyen-Hong, 2000, p.18). The Islamic banking services committed to the development of the Qatari economy have provided satisfactory service in terms of providing increased credit, investment and commercial banking services to fund the growth of service sector as per the policies of the Qatari government (Saunders and Schumacher, 2000, p.815). Conclusion The economies of the MENA region are heterogeneous and diverse in nature. The economies of the various countries in the MENA region range from free market economies to hydrocarbon exporting economies. Collectively, the countries of the MENA region are most strongly established for the production and export of oil and energy. But the countries in these regions are focusing on expanding and diversifying their economies in various aspects like services to create competitiveness and sustainability and to comply with the evolving business trends. The MENA region is fast recovering from then economic downturn. The economic growth in these regions has been high, driven by increased external demands and domestic absorption. The recovery processes of these three countries differ but can be related with respect to the role of the service industry. The principal ways in which the MENA region are trying to recover from the effects of the financial crisis are price of oil, financial services, balance of payments, trading activities, foreign direct investment flows and remittances. Improving the service sector is considered as major way to improve the overall economy of these regions. The economies in Middle East and North Africa are developing at a fast rate. The growth of these economies is much dependant on the development of the service industries. Globalization and trade liberalization have resulted in the emergence of the service sector as a critical sector in both the developed countries like Qatar and the developing countries like Lebanon. The development of the financial and banking sectors is given much importance in all the three countries. Tourism and trading activities are other major service sectors that help in boosting these economies, especially Qatar. The landscape and structure of the service sectors in Morocco, Lebanon and Qatar are different. The tourism, transport and banking sectors are important service industries in Qatar, the commerce and tourism industries are important in Lebanon whereas the information technology, financial, retail and tourism industries are significant in the service sector of Morocco. Thus, it can be established that the countries in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are taking effective steps towards the sustainable and rapid growth of the economies which can be majorly achieved by the development of the service sector in this region. References Aces, Z. & Autio, E. 2010. The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index: A Brief Explanation. London: Imperial College. Anderson, J. E. and Neary, J. P. 1994. Measuring the Restrictiveness of Trade Policy. World Bank Economic Review. 8(1): pp.151-169. Dee, P. 2003. Modelling the policy issues in services trade. Économie international. 1(1): pp.283-300. European Commission. 2013. Countries and regions. [Online]. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/lebanon/. [Accessed on 31 March 2014]. Fawzy, S. 2002. Globalization and Firm Competitiveness in the Middle East and North Africa Region. Washington, D. C.: World Bank Publications. Findlay, C. and Round, D. 2006. The three pillars of stagnation: challenges for air transport reform. World Trade Review. 5(2): pp.251–270. Findlay, C. and Warren, T. 2000. Introduction: Impediments to Trade in Services. New York: Routledge. Fuchs, V. 2001. The growing importance of service industries. New York: Columbia University press. Hossain, M. 2008. Service quality in retail banking in Middle East: the case of Qatar. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and management. Vol. 13(1), pp.102-103. Ibrahim, I. & Harrigan, F. 2012. Qatar’s economy: past and Present. [Pdf]. Available at http://www.gsdp.gov.qa/portal/page/portal/gsdp_en/knowledge_center/Tab2/Qatar%20economy%20past%20present%20and%20future.pdf. [Accessed on 31 March 2014]. International Monetary Fund. 2011. Economic Transformation in MENA: Delivering on the Promise of Shared Prosperity. Washington DC: IMF. Konan, D. E. and Assche, A. 2007. Regulation, Market Structure and Service Trade Liberalization. Economic Modelling. 1(1): pp. 895-923. Konan, D. E. and Maskus, K. 2006. Quantifying the impact of services liberalization in a developing country. Journal of Development Economics. 1(1): pp.142-162. Mattoo, A., Stern, R. and Gianni, Z. 2008. A Handbook of International Trade in Services. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mcguire, G. and Schuele, M. 2000. Restrictiveness of international trade in banking services. New York: Routledge. Nguyen-Hong, D. 2000. Restrictions on Trade in Professional Services. Productivity Commission Staff Research Paper. 1(1): pp.12-23. OECD. 2008. Morocco. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/countries/morocco/40578273.pdf. [Accessed on 31 March 2014]. OECD. 2013. Competitiveness and Private Sector Development New Entrepreneurs and High Performance Enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa. Paris: OECD Publishing. PricewaterhouseCoopers. 2013. On the fast track: A new cycle of innovation in the Middle East. [Pdf]. Available at http://www.pwc.com/en_M1/m1/publications/documents/innovation-survey-report.pdf. [Accessed on 31 March 2014]. Qatar Development Planning. 2010. Qatar National Development Strategy 20112016. [Pdf]. Available at http://www.gsdp.gov.qa/gsdp_vision/docs/NDS_EN.pdf. [Accessed on 31 March 2014]. Saunders, A. and Schumacher, L. 2000. The determinants of bank interest rate margin: an international study. Journal of International Money and Finance. 19(1): pp.813-832. Shochat, S. 2008. The Gulf Cooperation Council Economies: Diversification and Reform: An Introduction. London: London School of Economics. Sullivan, A. & Medez, J. G. 2011. Opportunities and challenges in the MENA region. [Pdf]. Available at http://www.oecd.org/mena/investment/49036903.pdf. [Accessed on 31 March 2014]. The Embassy of Lebanon. 2014. The Economy. [Online]. Available at: http://www.lebanonembassyus.org/the-economy.html. [Accessed on 31 March 2014]. The World Bank Group. 2014. World Data Bank. [Online]. Available at: http://databank.worldbank.org/data/views/variableselection/selectvariables.aspx?source=world-development-indicators. [Accessed on 31 March 2014]. The World Bank. 2009. From Privilege to Competition: Unlocking Private-led Growth in the Middle East and North Africa. Washington DC: World Bank. The World Bank. 2010. Growth of the service sector. [Pdf]. Available at http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/beyond/beyondco/beg_09.pdf. [Accessed on 31 March 2014]. Trewin, R. 2000. Impediments to Trade in Services: Measurement and Policy Implications. London: Routledge. Vayanos, P. and Hammoud, M. 2007. Promoting the Growth and Competitiveness of the Insurance Sector in the Arab World. The Arab World Competitiveness Report. 1(1): pp.97-117. World Economic Forum. 2011. The Global Competitiveness Report 2011–2012. Geneva: World Economic Forum. Read More