MENA INITIATIVE ON GOVERNANCE AND INVESTMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT The MENA Initiative on Governance and Investment for Development is a regional effort, initiated and led by countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It promotes broad reforms to enhance the investment climate, modernise governance structures and operations, strengthen regional and international partnerships, and promote sustainable economic growth throughout the MENA region. The initiative aims at strengthening countries’ capacity to design and implement policy reforms. The MENA Initiative consists of two pillars: Governance Programme – aimed at modernising public governance structures and processes Investment Programme – aimed at improving investment climate and policies The MENA Initiative has made significant progress since its official launch in 2005. It has: created a unique mechanism for results-oriented policy dialogue and capacity building among practitioners from MENA and OECD countries, comprising eleven thematic Working Groups on priority reform areas, each chaired by a MENA country and co-chaired by OECD countries. A Steering Group, composed of the MENA chairs and OECD co-chairs, guides and supervises the activities of the regional Working Groups. National co-ordination committees link the regional policy dialogue to reform implementation on the ground and ensure policy co-ordination at the national level. promoted the formulation and endorsement of National Action Plans for improving governance and investment by several participating MENA countries. These action plans comprise concrete, time-bound reform objectives. They were validated at the Ministerial meeting of the Investment Programme held at the Dead Sea in Jordan on 13-14 February 2006 and at the Steering Group Meeting at Ministerial level of the Governance Programme held in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, on 19-20 May 2006. supported the implementation of MENA countries’ National Action Plans through regional capacity-building and peer-to-peer learning activities among policy makers from Arab and OECD countries. The implementation progress is monitored and reviewed in the Working Groups and the two Steering Groups. led to suggestions for establishing regional public management and investment capacity-building centres. Such centres have the critical size to disseminate best practices in a cost-efficient way. Bahrain has for example created a regional Centre for Investment and the UAE has established a regional Institute for Corporate Governance to support the work of the MENA Initiative. been taken forward in close co-operation with the World Bank, Arab League, European Union, UNIDO and other international and regional organisations. The Governance Initiative is jointly supported by UNDP POGAR (Programme on Governance in the Arab Region) and the OECD. taken on an important role as facilitator for partnerships among Arab governments and bilateral and multilateral donors, where significant external technical and financial support is required for policy implementation. Primary focus for 2007: Building on the achievements so far, the primary focus of the initiative for 2007 is to support the implementation and the further development of MENA countries’ National Action Plans through deepened capacity building and peer-advice both on the regional and national level, as well as monitoring and measurement of progress. About the Investment Programme The Investment Programme has been developed with MENA country investment authorities in cooperation with other government agencies, under the leadership of a Steering Group chaired by Jordan and Japan in the first year and now chaired by Egypt and the United Kingdom. The programme has five Working Groups focusing on: Transparent and open investment policies (chair: Jordan; co-chair: Japan); Investment Promotion Agencies and business associations as driving forces for economic reform (chair: United Arab Emirates; co-chair: Switzerland); Tax frameworks for investment, including assessment of incentives (chairs: Bahrain, Egypt; co-chair: Turkey); Policies for financial sector and enterprise development for economic diversification (chair: Saudi Arabia; co-chair: United Kingdom); and Corporate governance (chair: Lebanon). The Working Groups first met in January/February and September 2005 and the Steering Group met in April and October 2005, and in May 2006. A new cycle of Working Group meetings began in November 2006. A MENA Investment Ministerial Meeting was held on 13-14 February 2006, preceded by a one day Business Forum. Ministers and senior officials from 16 MENA countries met in Jordan on 13-14 February 2006 with their counterparts from 15 OECD countries and representatives from other organisations to discuss national and regional action plans and to agree to a Declaration on “Attracting Investment to MENA Countries – Common Principles and Good Practice”. They committed their support to the next phase of the Investment Programme, which focuses on the implementation of national investment policy reforms. Workshops to review the implementation of National Investment Reform Agendas were held in Egypt (May 2006), Jordan (June 2006), Oman (June 2006), Morocco (November 2006) and the UAE (December 2006); others are being planned for 2007. An action plan and a draft Ministerial declaration on promoting business integrity and fighting corruption in the MENA region were developed by a Task Force on Business Integrity. The private sector from MENA and OECD countries actively participates in the Investment Programme. The MENA-OECD Business Network comprising the OECD business community coordinated by the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC), the Arab Business Council and other partners from the region have recently reiterated their commitment to the Initiative. Closer co-operation with the G8 Investment Task Force led by the Arab Business Council will help to further strengthen the Investment Programme. A MENA-OECD Enterprise Financing Network was launched in 2006 to improve the framework for entrepreneurship financing in the region. The network comprises financial institutions, science and research networks and entrepreneurs from MENA and OECD countries. About the Governance Programme The Good Governance for Development (GfD) in Arab Countries Initiative was formally launched at a Ministerial conference hosted by the Prime Minister of Jordan in February 2005 at the Dead Sea and is implemented in partnership with UNDP POGAR (Programme on Governance in the Arab Region). Prime Ministers and Ministers from 18 MENA countries endorsed a declaration setting out the objectives and plans for the implementation of the programme. The initiative’s Steering Group was first chaired by Jordan and is now chaired by Egypt. Sweden has succeeded Japan as the OECD co-chair of the GfD Steering Group. The programme has six Working Groups focusing on: Civil service and integrity (chair: Morocco, co-chair: Spain, Turkey); E-government and administrative simplification (chair: Dubai; co-chairs: Italy, Korea); Governance of public finance (chair: Egypt; co-chairs: Netherlands, United States); Public services delivery, public-private partnerships and regulatory reform (chair: Tunisia; co-chairs: United Kingdom, Italy, Canada); Role of the judiciary and enforcement (chair: Jordan; co-chairs: United States, France); and Civil society and media (chair: Lebanon; co-chair: European Union). As a key result of the GfD Initiative, National Action Plans for modernising governance of seven MENA countries have been presented at the Steering Group Meeting at Ministerial level held in Sharm ElSheikh, Egypt, on 19-20 May 2006. Ministers and high-level official delegations from 9 MENA and 14 OECD countries, as well as representatives from other organisations discussed National Action Plans, regional cooperation, and the work plan for the next 18 months. The GfD Working Groups met for the first time in 2005 and for the second time between March-May 2006. Since the beginning of 2006, a broad range of regional capacity-building and peer-to-peer learning activities have been realised to support the implementation of MENA countries’ National Action Plans. The third round of Working Group meetings is taking place between December 2006 and March 2007. It serves to monitor progress made in implementing the National Action Plans and to endorse the emerging programme of deepened capacity-building and peer-to-peer learning activities for 2007, both at the national and at the regional level. Contact persons: Governance Programme Steering Group Chair and Co-chairs: Dr. Ahmed Darwish, Minister for Administrative Development, Egypt Ambassador Gun-Britt Andersson, Sweden OECD Secretariat: Mr. Martin Forst, Tel. +33 1 45 24 91 70; email: martin.forst@oecd.org UNDP: Mr. Adel Abdellatif, Tel. +961 1 981 30; email: adel.abdellatif@undp.org Investment Programme Steering Group Co-chairs: Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Minister of Investment, Egypt Mr. Graham Minter, United Kingdom OECD Secretariat: Mr. Rainer Geiger, Tel. +33 1 45 24 91 03; email: rainer.geiger@oecd.org Mr. Alexander Böhmer, Tel. +33 1 45 24 1912; email: alexander.boehmer@oecd.org