DUBAI: The Middle East needs $4.3 trillion to build infrastructure to accelerate economic growth and help create jobs for 50 million in the next 15 years, experts at the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) Economic Forum said at a panel discussion.
Middle East, with a population of about 400 million, hosts 60 per cent of world’s oil wealth and 40 per cent of gas reserves. Yet 23 per cent of the population lives with less than $2 (Dh7.3) per day. Its population growth of 2.2 per cent is double the global population growth, according to the World Bank.
While most expert panelists said the region should liberalise the investment laws to open doors for foreign direct investment (FDI), others say, education and skill development is crucial for the overall social development and economic growth of the region, reported Gulf News on Tuesday.
"We have many good success stories and we could build on those successes and replicate in where it is not there," Saif Al Ghafli, Chief Executive of Al Hosn Gas, told at the forum.
"With $4.3 trillion investment needed to develop infrastructure, countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) could look at our successes in developing infrastructure in the GCC and take lessons from these projects." (QNA)
