Regional Agenda Middle East and North Africa Regional Business Council Accelerating Economic Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa

The report identifies six critical areas for economic reform in the MENA region to combat high youth unemployment and instability: labour market efficiency, bankruptcy and insolvency regulation, company creation processes, bureaucracy reduction, dispute resolution methods, and corporate governance. It argues that rigid labour laws and archaic bankruptcy frameworks discourage entrepreneurship and investment. The document provides specific recommendations for Kuwait regarding company registration and discusses the need for a multistakeholder approach to align regional policies with international standards to foster a dynamic private sector.

• The MENA region faces a critical employment crisis, with an average youth unemployment rate of 30% and an estimated need for 60 to 100 million new jobs over the next decade.
• Rigid labour regulations are a primary constraint on private sector growth; the report specifically highlights the need to reform redundancy laws to allow for greater flexibility in hiring and firing based on economic conditions.
• Bankruptcy and insolvency frameworks in MENA are often outdated and liquidation-focused, creating a stigma of failure and penal risks that discourage entrepreneurs from taking risks.
• The process of starting a business is cumbersome in most MENA countries, with the report recommending the adoption of ICT for registration, the creation of one-stop-shops, and the reduction of minimum capital requirements.
• There is a significant lack of trust in regional commercial arbitration and a deficiency in mediation services, leading to a recommendation that countries adhere to the New York Arbitration Convention of 1958.
• Corporate governance in the region is uneven; while listed companies have improved through OECD-based codes, privately-held family firms and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) lag behind in transparency and professional oversight.
• In Kuwait, company formation is particularly slow, taking an average of 31 days compared to the MENA average of 18.8 days, prompting a call for a complete online registration system and the elimination of minimum registered capital.
• Jordan is cited as an example of severe insolvency challenges, ranking 146th in resolving insolvency in the World Bank's 2015 rankings and lacking a single, unified insolvency law.

APA

World Economic Forum (2017). Regional Agenda Middle East and North Africa Regional Business Council Accelerating Economic Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/Media/AM17/Accelerating_Reforms_MENA_.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Regional Agenda Middle East and North Africa Regional Business Council Accelerating Economic Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa. 2017. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/Media/AM17/Accelerating_Reforms_MENA_.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Regional Agenda Middle East and North Africa Regional Business Council Accelerating Economic Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa |date=January 2017 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/Media/AM17/Accelerating_Reforms_MENA_.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2017regional, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Regional Agenda Middle East and North Africa Regional Business Council Accelerating Economic Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2017}, month = jan, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/Media/AM17/Accelerating_Reforms_MENA_.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }