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What’s Holding Back the Private Sector in MENA?
July 25, 2016Cairo, Egypt
The launch of the report "What’s Holding Back the Private Sector in MENA?", in Cairo, brings together representatives of relevant authorities and national institutions as well as from the private and financial sectors.

What’s Holding Back the Private Sector in MENA? Lessons from the Enterprise Survey is a report jointly produced by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the World Bank Group (WBG).

The launch of the report, in Cairo, brings together representatives of relevant authorities and national institutions as well as from the private and financial sectors.

The first part of the launch event will include the presentation of the joint study and its conclusions, while touching upon certain areas not covered by the report. The second part will focus on future steps in the MENA region with regard to strategies and priorities for future operations, with a discussion also of the operational strategies of the three institutions involved.

The report presents the results of the MENA Enterprise Surveys (MENA ES) conducted during 2013-2014 in eight economies: Djibouti, the Arab Republic of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, the West Bank and Gaza, and the Republic of Yemen.

By analyzing detailed information on more than 6,000 private firms in the manufacturing and services sectors, the report provides fine-grained insights into their performance and the business environment in which they operate.

8.30 – 9.00           Registration and Welcome Coffee

9.00- 11.00           Part I: Private Sector Development in the MENA Region

Presentation of the survey results by Debora Revoltella, Chief Economist, EIB

Panel Discussion

•   Tarek Hassan Amer, Governor, Central Bank of the Arab Republic of Egypt

•   Sergei Guriev, Incoming Chief Economist, EBRD

•    Kaushik Basu, Sr. Vice President and Chief Economist, WB

•    Ahmed Galal, Managing Director, Economic Research Forum

Q&A

11.00 – 11.30         Coffee Break

11.30 – 13.00          Part II: Future Steps in the Arab Republic of Egypt and in the MENA Region

Keynote Speech by Her Excellency Dr. Sahar Nasr, Minister of International Cooperation, Arab Republic of Egypt

Panel Discussion

•   Philip ter Woort, Director, Head of Egypt, EBRD

•   Marion Hoenicke, Head of SMEs finance Neighbouring Countries, EIB

•   Asad Alam, Country Director Djibouti, Republic of Yemen and Arab Republic of Egypt, WB

Q&A

13.15 – 14.30           Lunch

 

  • Debora Revoltella

    DIRECTOR AND CHIEF ECONOMIST, ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT, EIB
    Debora Revoltella is the Director of the Economics Department of the European Investment Bank since April 2011. Debora holds a degree in Economics and a Master in Economics from Bocconi University as well as a PhD in Economics from the University of Ancona in Italy.

  • Sergei Guriev

    CHIEF ECONOMIST, EBRD
    Sergei Guriev is a Professor of Economics, Sciences Po, Paris and Incoming EBRD Chief Economist. He is a Research Fellow at the Center for Economic Policy Research (London), Co-Editor of the Economics of Transition and the President-Elect of the Society for the Institutional and Organizational Economics.

  • Kaushik Basu

    SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF ECONOMIST, WB
    Kaushik Basu is Senior Vice President (Development Economics) and Chief Economist of the World Bank. Prior to this, he served as Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India and is currently on leave from Cornell University where he is Professor of Economics and the C. Marks Professor of International Studies.

  • Ahmed Galal

    MANAGING DIRECTOR, ECONOMIC RESEARCH FORUM
    Ahmed Galal is currently Managing Director of the Economic Research Forum (ERF) and the President and Chairman of the Board of Forum Euroméditerranéen des Instituts des Sciences Économiques (FEMISE). He is a member of the Board of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and the MENA Health Policy Forum.

  • Sahar Nasr

    MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT
    Her Excellency Dr. Sahar Nasr was sworn in as the Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation on September 19, 2015. Dr. Nasr earned her Professorship from the Supreme Council of Universities. She is a Professor of Economics at the American University in Cairo and a Lecturer at several Egyptian and foreign universities. Throughout her academic career, she published over 60 research papers, technical reports and books in the fields of international finance, economic development, private sector and SME development, financial reform, the labor market, women empowerment, and economic legislation.. Some of these studies and research papers have contributed to drafting and structuring economic policies in various developing countries and emerging markets, including Egypt.

  • Marion Hoenicke

    HEAD OF SMEs FINANCE NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES, EIB
    Marion Hoenicke has been with the European Investment Bank (EIB) since 1997 where she currently heads the Neighboring Countries – Banks Division, focusing on lending to SMEs and mid-caps. Marion is responsible for EIB’s activities in the Eastern Neighborhood (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine) and Southern Neighborhood (Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia) Regions. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Green for Growth Fund. She previously worked for six years in the private sector, including Siemens and Bouygues, in Germany and France.

  • Asad Alam

    COUNTRY DIRECTOR DJIBOUTI, REPUBLIC OF YEMEN AND ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT, WB
    Mr. Asad Alam is the Country Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti, based in Cairo. In this position, he leads the development and implementation of the World Bank Group’s country partnership frameworks for these countries. Prior to taking up this post, Mr. Alam has served as Country Director for Southern Africa covering South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland and earlier as Country Director for the South Caucasus covering Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. An economist by training, Mr. Alam joined the World Bank as a Young Professional in 1993. He has worked in different regions of the world including Africa, Central Asia, East Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. He has wide ranging experience of working on development issues of productivity, growth, job creation, poverty reduction, inequality, trade, and fiscal.
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