Poverty Is The Main Source Of Trouble For All The Muslims.

Note: This article tells the bare truth: poverty is the main source of the troubles of all the Muslims. Politics prevents any progress because of the corruption of the the muslim leaders. These political and 'religious' leaders work always to keep the muslims poor and ignorant. The end result is the theft of the resources in the muslim countries by their leaders, aided and abetted by Westerners.

Read and be informed...

A Political Spanner in the Arab Economic Wheel
Mohamed Al-Assoum Al-Hayat - 22/08/06//

In the mid-1960s, the Arab countries initially agreed to establish an Arab common market. For more than 40 years, these countries have not been able to move one step toward the realization of this considerable economic project. At the beginning of this century, Arab countries came to another agreement providing for the commencement of the first phase of a project to establish a free trade area among the Arab countries. This entailed the abolition of customs duties on locally manufactured goods transported between Arab countries.

Despite the passage of four years since the deadline set for starting the establishment of the 'greater Arab free trade area', things are still at a standstill, although this form of co-operation was the first to prevail in international trade relations over the past few years. Indeed, such agreements were signed among groups and several countries that are only linked to each other by common interests and positive economic and trade prospects which such agreements give rise to.

Strangely enough, the Arab countries are trying to sign similar agreements with other WTO members, whether within the Euro-Mediterranean or Asian scope of co-operation.

The obstacles are many and understandable, but they have not been overcome. However, the most significant obstacle is the absence of professionalism and the dominance of the Arab political decision over any other decisions or interests. Many joint economic projects reached a final and decisive point, and then came to a halt without seeing the light of day.

The Arab political spanner is always looking to stop the economic wheel. It is indifferent to the volume of common interests and historic investment opportunities that may be missed, and to the subsequent loss of resources and hundreds of thousands of job opportunities for Arab citizens.

This has resulted and will continue to result in the failure of Arab economies, particularly their infrastructures. There are no modern railway lines, roads paved according to international standards, electricity network linkage, networks of transporting natural gas and petroleum products, etc; bearing in mind that these requirements are essential for modern economies and their future growth.

This absence also results in the failure to keep pace with new developments in international economic relations and the integration of countries into economic blocs and unions where political differences are reduced to a minimum or even set aside in order to avoid their subsequent harm to mutual economic interests that should be given priority. This, however, runs counter to what is happening in the Arab World, where the priority has always been given to what is political.

Indeed, economics and politics cannot be separated. However, this integration should be viewed from a positive perspective: giving political support to deepen common economic interests. This differs from the negative aspect which is using politics and political influences to curb economic growth and co-operation, as is the case in the Arab countries.

The great imbalance in Arab relations needs to be professionally addressed to curb the role of the spanner and remove obstacles that may slow the rotation of the economic cycle, especially as common interests, opportunities and available potentials - including capital, natural resources and human skills in the Arab countries - are great. They can lead to increased growth rates and provide job opportunities. Unemployment in the Arab countries is among the highest rates in the world and it is on the rise, according to UN data. This should be accompanied by the improvement of living standards to support political and social stability in these countries.

These factors, and others, are enough to make one rethink the negative role of the political spanner in slowing down the movement of the economic wheel, a condition caused by the absence of professionalism and co-ordination to gain the greatest possible benefits. Today, the world is experiencing large shifts where economic interests gain increasing importance. The Arab World has many capabilities, but they have yet to be exploited.

An economics writer.




Comment: Australia has a duty to help promote economic development and justice in the muslim world for the ordinary muslim people. This is the only real source of peace in that region.