The Secretary General of the Union of Arab Chambers, Dr. Khaled Hanafi, considered that "an initiative of the size of the digital economy platform cannot be undertaken by one party. Rather, efforts must be made to implement a noble goal of this importance." He explained, "The public sector alone cannot provide integrated solutions and we know the reasons for this, it is not allowed for the private sector alone to monopolize this initiative due to the sensitivity of the topic. What we see today of the problems that “Facebook” and “Visa” face because they are prevented from controlling, is an example about that.”
He believed that "the solution is through a partnership between the private sector and the public sector. What matters to the public sector is revitalizing the economy and creating job opportunities for the youth, which is what the digital economy platform secures through diversifying the economy, reducing the cost of trade, increasing trade in goods, increasing services, and thus creating new job opportunities." Stressing that " the oil-rich countries are today in dire need to diversify their economies to get rid of dependency on the oil market."
Hanafi's words came during a speech at the Forum "Financing Growth through Enabling the Digital Economy", which was organized by the Union of Arab Banks in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund.
Hanafi stressed that "What is happening today is financing the initiative, and it is something that is available and is going. As for the road map, it is clear due to the tremendous efforts made by the coalition, as preliminary agreements were signed with major technology companies that will meet under one roof in the E-Hub of the World In order to launch the digital economy platform."
Hanafi explained, "The Union of Arab Chambers is relying heavily on the fruitful partnerships that it has established with the Union of Arab Banks, and in particular the initiative that was launched in Dubai 2020, which includes information platforms specialized in electronic transformation in commercial and transport operations." He pointed out that "the Corona pandemic has led to a radical redrawing of the global investment map, which was reflected in the acceleration of a critical shift towards digital technologies and renewable energy, while there has been a significant decline in capital spending in traditional sectors and major sectors such as tourism and the automobile industry."
He said, "The digital economy has limited the decline in global investment in 2020 with the support of foreign direct investment markets, the entire value chain of the digital economy received a massive boost during 2020, as the epidemic forced billions of people to live under restrictions and rely on digital technologies for basic services, work and entertainment."
He considered that "Future growth will largely depend on digitization, as the outbreak of the pandemic has had positive effects on the culture of using digital tools in the daily life of individuals, communities and businesses. Especially since the pandemic is accompanied by an increase in the use of mobile phones by 50 percent, and an increase in the use of data via the Internet by about 40 percent."
"The telecom sector in the world has survived due to investment in data processing, hosting and related services, which amounted to $ 27.3 billion in 11 months of 2020, making it the fifth largest investment sector. Investment in retail trade outside stores also jumped to $ 34.7 billion during the 11 months in 2020, beating any previous record, and that is mostly due to "Amazon" with more than 90 percent of the investment," He explained.
He pointed out that "Arab countries should develop an integrated vision for the future project and a new joint cooperation agenda that goes beyond the traditional integrated path, so that it includes joint digital projects in vital sectors, in a way that stimulates and encourages the reciprocal flows of trade, investment and for sustainable development that our Arab peoples need."
He emphasized, "The Arab world possesses all the components it needs to move to the digital future, but despite this, the entrepreneurship of small and medium enterprises is still far below the potential, with a rate not exceeding 8 percent of the potential, which is 10 times less than the United States of America."
He said, "The Arab private sector is more pivotal than ever in sparking growth engines again through the digital economy. Because of the strikes on supply chains, with shocks to trade and financial limitations, they have severely limited governments' ability to push growth forward and create opportunities. This made the private sector, with its usual ability to innovate and adapt, very vital to enhancing the economy’s capacity and development.”
He believed that "Strengthening Arab economic integration with global blocs is an indispensable option for growth and progress, because economic isolation creates stagnation, while the way forward lies in increasing participation and integration with the world."
Source (Union of Arab Chambers)
