Washington, April 07: The World Bank president has called on Arab states in the Middle East to tackle high unemployment and work on long-term reforms to meet their people’s demands.
Robert Zoellick referred on Wednesday to Tunisian fruit seller Mohammed Bouazizi whose self-immolation unleashed a revolt in January that toppled then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, saying the incident was a warning to leaders across the Arab world to tackle high unemployment, AFP reported.
In a speech on the ongoing anti-regime uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, Zoellick cautioned that Arab leaders should break away from the past and work on a system that includes citizens in decision-making, insisting that this is vital for the region’s transition.
“Our message to our clients, whatever their political system, is that you cannot have successful development without good governance and without the participation of your citizens,” he told a gathering at the Peterson Institute in Washington.
“Remember the frustrations of a Tunisian fruit seller trying to make a living without licenses, with constant fights over location, constant petty officials harassing him?” Zoellick questioned.
The revolts that subsequently spread across the region underscored the urgent need for reforms that would give people more confidence to work and invest, which would in turn create more jobs.
“In the Arab world, 35 to 40 percent of youth are jobless,” that is the highest among developing regions, “costing the Arab world some $50 billion a year in lost economic opportunities,” Zoellick said.
He stressed that to follow in Asia’s footsteps, “the countries of the Middle East today need to facilitate a rapid expansion of labor intensive exports,” and stop depending on oil and commodity exports for income.
——–Agencies