"The World Bank urged countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
region on Saturday to deepen structural reforms to sustain high economic
growth accompanied by strong job creation and declining unemployment in
recent years.
According to a World Bank MENA […] new report that looks into economic
trends and prospects for the region, the regional economy grew 6.3 percent
last year, compared to an average of 3.6 percent annual growth during the
1990s. Driven by high oil prices, economic recovery in Europe and reforms
that are broadly going in the right direction, the region witnessed a
fourth year in a row of robust growth performance, which generated many
jobs, primarily by the private sector as public employment slows down,
said the report posted on the regional office's website. …
According to the statistics, job creation in the MENA region grew at 4.5
percent per annum in 2000-2005, the strongest rate among developing
regions, the report noted. However, productivity remains a concern and
women are still less successful than men in finding jobs, it added. 'Too
many jobs are still being created in sectors with low or declining
productivity,' said Carlos Silva-Jauregui, Lead Economist and principal
author of the report. …" [Xinhua (China)/Factiva]
OANA reports that "… This is the third of an annual series of reports.
The theme for this year's publication is labor markets and employment, a
critical area for the MENA region as a result of its strong labor force
growth and large share of young population. …
Countries in the MENA region need to remove the remaining barriers that
hinder the business environment for the private sector in order to
maintain growth, increase private investment and generate more jobs, said
Daniela Gressani, World Bank Vice President for the MENA region."
[Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (Malaysia)/Factiva]
© worldbank developmentnews
Cheers pal. I do appreciate the wiritng.