APOSTLES of globalisation have a habit of disregarding the Middle East. Antoine van Agtmael, the man who coined the term “emerging markets”, barely mentions the Arab countries in his 2007 book, “The Emerging Markets Century”. This is understandable. The region has an extraordinary talent for disappointing. Emerging markets are supposed to produce enough opportunities to justify the headaches. In the Middle East the headaches are often overpowering.
The region certainly has opportunities. Its ample supplies of oil and gas make it highly attractive for basic industries such as petrochemicals and aluminium smelting. Governments, in the Gulf especially, are making efforts to attract foreign firms, as part of a drive to diversify their economies. The Gulf states are striving to improve their positions in the World Bank’s ranking of countries by ease of doing business. This week Saudi Arabia opened its stockmarket to foreign institutional investors. The Middle East’s growing, and often wealthy, population should make it a promising market for consumer businesses.
However, the problems are mind-boggling—and they are not the sort that an MBA...
from The Economist: Business http://ift.tt/1fjK1sE
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