Triangle And UNESCWA Launch Report And Online Portal For Arab Business Legislative Frameworks
In late October 2021, Triangle launched the Arab Business Legislative Framework report and online portal in Doha, Qatar. The launch occurred at a national planning and technical training session led by Triangle and fellow consulting firms FEMAC and Vessel Global.
DOHA (Triangle News) — Triangle and UNESCWA have launched a comprehensive report and portal to produce the first UN comparative analysis of business legislative frameworks covering all 22 Arab League member states. The report provides policy makers, legal practitioners, the business community, and the general public with baseline comparative research to assess the alignment of legislative frameworks in 22 Arab countries with international best practice. The research covers four key areas of commercial law: competition, anti-corruption, foreign direct investment, and consumer protection.
“This report and its portal are an important first step to bring Arab League states’ laws in line with international standards to combat corruption, increase competition, protect consumers, and attract the right kind of foreign direct investment to their countries,” Halabi said. “As the pandemic begins to subside and states refocus on Agenda 2030, Arab states can now start the essential work of rebuilding their legislative frameworks to spur the kind of reforms and investments that can move countries towards a sustainable economic development model.”
The report launch was part of the UNESCWA “National Workshop on Enhancing Integrated National Development in Qatar,” convened by Qatar’s Planning and Statistics Authority, in partnership with UNESCWA. The workshop forms part of the “Towards the Arab Horizon 2030: Enhancing Integrated National Development Planning in the Arab Region” initiative.
At the workshop, Halabi presented Qatari public and private sector representatives with the report and portal’s findings on Qatar’s business legislative frameworks, while technical training sessions on FDI attraction best practices were given by CEO of FEMAC and Head of Investment of Vessel Global, Luigi Mercuri. Supported by Triangle, FDI sessions focused on how to properly conceptualize, plan, and implement an effective global FDI attraction strategy in order to attract not only companies, but entire value chains, technologies, international talent, capital, and means of production.
“Any country competing for FDIs should aim at developing specific, consistent and diverse clusters, to tactically position its unique value proposition within the cross-border investment arena,”, said Mercuri. “Such knowledge-intensive and tech-oriented infrastructure shall both serve as a trampoline for the national economy´s exports, as well as a magnet to attract more innovative companies and their suppliers within the local market. Finding an ideal strategy can only be achieved by leveraging the strengths of the national ’Triple Helix,’ and selecting priority subsectors to pursue both in the manufacturing and services economic galaxies.”
Workshop participants confirmed the cruciality of ensuring that Qatar’s commercial legal requirements remain, in as far as possible, in line with regional standards. Attendees agreed that Triangle and UN-ESCWA’s important research should lead to expanded assessments of the impact of various other laws and implementation mechanisms across the Arab states, with a view to effectively realizing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
“A lot more work remains to understand the degree to which legislation, rules, and administrative norms need to be reformed to produce the right kind of business environment. This commercial climate must attract businesses of the future, which operate under a triple bottom line—where financial, environmental, and social considerations play a part in circular economic growth,” Halabi added. “All countries in the region need to undergo a change of mindset to avoid being left behind as the global economy moves – and moves fast – in that direction.”
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For more info:
The Arab Business Legislative Framework report is available here.
The Arab Legislation Portal is available here.