SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan (AP) – Bring more Arab women into the workforce, invest in “bite-sized” infrastructure projects and get the private sector more involved in training young job seekers – these are the prescriptions of a leading Gulf entrepreneur for growing Middle Eastern economies and combating rampant youth unemployment.
Decision-makers long seemed paralyzed by the sheer size of the troubled region’s economic problems, but attitudes have changed in recent years, said Omar Alghanim, co-chairman of this week’s regional World Economic Forum conference and a leader of private sector efforts to tackle youth unemployment.
“When you talk to government officials about this, they are a lot more turned on to these issues, and I think they acknowledge the size and significance of these issues,” Alghanim told The Associated Press on Friday. “As compared to five years ago, I see a lot more attention – which is great.”
The Middle East and North Africa have the world’s highest rate of youth unemployment, with 29.5 percent, up two percentage point from over a decade ago, according to the International Labor Organization. Unemployment is particularly high among young women, in part because of the constraints placed on them by traditional societies in many parts of the region.
Alghanim said that bringing more women into the workforce dramatically would spur economic growth.