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Growth Strategies in the MENA Region and Implications for Europe

Global Economic Governance

A number of economies currently face the risk of becoming caught between rapidly-growing low-income countries with abundant and cheap labor, and middle-income countries that are able to innovate quickly. These dynamics could lead to a "moderate growth trap," characterized by job creation that is insufficient to absorb the expansion of the workforce. The evolving international environment requires a rethinking and reformulation of the growth strategy in order for countries to better position themselves in global value chains and prepare to compete in international markets for goods and services with high-skill-intensive labor and more sophisticated technological inputs.

Two leading scholars from OCP Policy Center in Morocco will present a new publication “Morocco: Growth Strategy for 2025 in an Evolving International Environment” which includes a quantitative model providing a framework that can be generalized to other middle-income countries. The policy issues and related challenges facing Morocco are similar to those of most of the middle-income countries in the MENA region, and elsewhere. The implications in terms of the nature and the scope of interactions with EU economic developments and policies will also be discussed.

Speakers

  • Karim El Aynaoui, Managing Director, OCP Policy Center and Advisor to the Chairman and CEO, OCP Group, Morocco
  • Pierre-Richard Agénor, Senior Fellow at OCP Policy Center, Morocco and Hallsworth Professor of International Macroeconomics and Development Economics, University of Manchester, U.K.
  • Alvaro Ortiz Vidal, Chief Economist, Emerging Markets Analysis Division, BBVA Group
  • Heliodoro Temprano Arroyo, Head of the Unit, Neighbourhood Countries and Macro-Financial Assistance, European Commission's Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN)
  • Chair: Karen Wilson, Senior Fellow, Bruegel

About the speakers

Karim El Aynaoui is currently Managing Director of OCP Policy Center and advisor to the CEO and Chairman of OCP, a global leader in the phosphate sector. OCP Policy Center is an autonomous Moroccan think thank created by OCP Foundation to further objective policy debate and analysis of key social, economic, and geopolitical issues that affect the future of the private sector and the country. From 2005 to 2012 he worked at Bank Al-Maghrib, the Central Bank of Morocco. He was the Director of Economics and International Relations, where he provided strategic leadership in defining and supporting monetary policy analysis and strategy. He was also in charge of the Statistical and International Relations Divisions of the Central Bank, led the research division and was a member of the Governor’s Cabinet. Before joining Bank Al-Maghrib, Karim El Aynaoui worked for eight years at the World Bank, both in is Middle Eastern and North Africa, and Africa regions as an economist. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Bordeaux, where he taught for three years. He has published articles in scientific journals on macroeconomic issues in developing countries.

Pierre‐Richard Agénor is Hallsworth Professor of International Macroeconomics and Development Economics, University of Manchester, and co‐Director, Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research. He is also Principal Investigator, ESRC‐DFID Growth Research Programme; International Research Fellow, Kiel Institute of the World Economy; Senior Fellow, FERDI; Research Associate, CAMA; and Senior Fellow, OCP Policy Center. He has published widely in leading professional journals and made contributions to a wide range of fields in economics, including international macroeconomics, development economics, growth theory, labor economics, and poverty reduction. He is the author of The Economics of Adjustment and Growth (Harvard University Press), Development Macroeconomics (with P. J. Montiel, Princeton University Press), and more recently Public Capital, Growth and Welfare (Princeton University Press). He has taught and lectured in many universities and research.

Event materials

Maroc: Stratégie de croissance à l'horizon 2025 dans un environnement international en mutationPierre-Richard Agénor, Karim El Aynaoui, January 24, 2015

Presentation by Pierre-Richard Agénor and Karim El Aynaoui -

Practical Details

  • Venue: Bruegel, Rue de la Charité 33, 1210 Brussels
  • Time: Thursday, 5 March 2015, 12:00 - 14:00. Lunch will be served at 12:00 after which the event begins at 12:30.
  • Contact: Matilda Sevón, Events Coordinator - [email protected]