Each transition economy of the MENA region aims at supporting the enabling environment to boost private sector development through export promotion. Efforts to push the integration of South Mediterranean economies into the global economy but, mainly, with the European Union started in the 1990s and evolved throughout since 2000. It was widely understood that trade liberalization following the signing of free trade agreements would not be enough without specific policies and programs aiming at increasing private sector competitiveness in export markets. It is worth mentioning that the targeted countries (Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan) have adopted a series Export Development Policies at each time aiming at i) reducing barriers to trade at institutional and policy level, and ii) reducing barriers to trade at firm level. In particular: In the mid-90’s, these three countries (and other like Egypt) signed free trade agreements with the EU In this context, they implemented programs which focused on the upgrading of their firms in order to improve their export capabilities. In early-2000, Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia put the emphasis on the access to foreign markets dimension with the implementation of targeted programs (JUMP in Jordan, FAMEX in Tunisia, Morocco Croissance and Morocco Export Plus in Morocco). The economic downturn resulting from the Arab Spring prompted the Governments of three countries to deepen their access to market policies and further expand their integration to the global economy. In this context, new programs are being put in place to further i) remove certain constraints that affect the business environment (institutions, regulations, etc.), ii) encourage companies to become more competitive (cost, quality, innovation), and finally, iii) transform export ready SMEs into regular export SMEs. When it comes to e-commerce, governments around the world have recognized the importance of their role in removing barriers and in enabling e-commerce. This is also the case of Tunisia, Jordan and Morocco, where, within the context of modernization and deepening of policies and institutions, specific task forces have been put in place to comprehensively address barriers to e-commerce. This is part of a major effort to increase the international presence of their companies and a pillar of the overall program of trade related reforms. The proposed project will support the current policy change. In particular, it will support effort i) to promote new exporters (SMEs) through VMPs, as new promotion channel, and ii) to tackle the various issues that impede the deepening of access to foreign markets (through the support to their inter-ministerial committees). Morocco
Each transition economy of the MENA region aims at supporting the enabling environment to boost private sector development through export promotion. Efforts to push the integration of South Mediterranean economies into the global economy but, mainly, with the European Union started in the 1990s and evolved throughout since 2000. It was widely understood that trade liberalization following the signing of free trade agreements would not be enough without specific policies and programs aiming at increasing private sector competitiveness in export markets. It is worth mentioning that the targeted countries (Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan) have adopted a series Export Development Policies at each time aiming at i) reducing barriers to trade at institutional and policy level, and ii) reducing barriers to trade at firm level. In particular: In the mid-90’s, these three countries (and other like Egypt) signed free trade agreements with the EU In this context, they implemented programs which focused on the upgrading of their firms in order to improve their export capabilities. In early-2000, Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia put the emphasis on the access to foreign markets dimension with the implementation of targeted programs (JUMP in Jordan, FAMEX in Tunisia, Morocco Croissance and Morocco Export Plus in Morocco). The economic downturn resulting from the Arab Spring prompted the Governments of three countries to deepen their access to market policies and further expand their integration to the global economy. In this context, new programs are being put in place to further i) remove certain constraints that affect the business environment (institutions, regulations, etc.), ii) encourage companies to become more competitive (cost, quality, innovation), and finally, iii) transform export ready SMEs into regular export SMEs. When it comes to e-commerce, governments around the world have recognized the importance of their role in removing barriers and in enabling e-commerce. This is also the case of Tunisia, Jordan and Morocco, where, within the context of modernization and deepening of policies and institutions, specific task forces have been put in place to comprehensively address barriers to e-commerce. This is part of a major effort to increase the international presence of their companies and a pillar of the overall program of trade related reforms. The proposed project will support the current policy change. In particular, it will support effort i) to promote new exporters (SMEs) through VMPs, as new promotion channel, and ii) to tackle the various issues that impede the deepening of access to foreign markets (through the support to their inter-ministerial committees). Morocco
JO%20MA%20TN%20WB%20SMEs%20Export%20through%20VMPs%20Project%20Document%20REVISED_0.docx