Regional Integration: Status, Developments, and Challenges
MENA Destinations Are of Some Importance for Non-Oil Exports
60 50 40 30 20
group average
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resource-poor, labor-abundant countries
resource-rich, labor-abundant countries
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share of intra-MENA non-oil merchandise exports in total non-oil merchandise exports, %
Figure 10.5
275
resource-rich, labor-importing countries
Source: UN Comtrade database. Note: Data are from 2006 or latest year available.
more than half of non-oil exports; regional exports remain in single-digit territory in Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. Examination of subgroups of countries in the major regional trade agreements confirms the shallow links in merchandise trade (table 10.2). None of the four members of the Agadir Agreement trades more than 3 percent of total imports and exports with the other three partners. Trade is also minimal among the five members of the Arab Maghreb Union, within which intraregional trade represents more than 3 percent of total imports and exports only in Tunisia. Cross-country networks of suppliers can be major drivers of integration. Over the past two decades, such networks have been established in the automobile industry in Eastern Europe and in the electronics industry in East Asia; they have significantly contributed to the international economic success of these regions. Systems of interrelated suppliers take advantage of intercountry wage differentials within the