October 2017
Union of Arab Chambers
We have the pleasure to publish this study on “The investment Map in the Arab Region for 2017: Challenges and Promising Opportunities” that aims at shedding light on many promising areas for investment. It also looks into the progress and development needs in order to overcome difficulties and fill gaps, and to build on existing potential depending on available capacities and resources and on comparative advantages.
The study reviews, through an in-depth analysis, the investment status in the Arab region, and the challenges encountered by the private sector in the business environment, as well as the transformations that ought to be made in the investment policies and reform programs. It also looks in detail into the investment climate and opportunities in all Arab countries, in terms of strengths and weaknesses, and into the development needs. At the same time, the study identifies the promising sectorial opportunities for each country, within ambitious visions and field developments, toattract investments in various sectors, as reflected in the statistics until 2016,
depending on the specificities and preferences of each Arab country. It appears that the Arab region abounds with exceptional investment opportunities with high economic feasibility if well exploited, despite the tough and much complicated circumstances that many Arab countries are going through, and that affect all countries in the region.
We hope that this contribution, prepared by the Economic Research department, would raise the interest it deserves from the decision- makers among high level officials involved in investments and major leaders and figures from the private sector.
Senator Nael Raja Al-Kabariti
President of the Union of Arab Chambers
