The International Research Foundation (IRF), Sultanate of Oman

Events

The International Research Foundation of Oman hosts events to promote economic freedom and good policy in Oman and throughout the Arab World.

2007

Economic Freedom of the Arab World Network Meeting and Awards Ceremony 2007

2006

Economic Freedom of the Arab World Network Meeting 2006
Economic Freedom of the Arab World Awards Ceremony 2006

2005

Economic Freedom of the World Network Meeting 2005
Economic Freedom of the Arab World Awards Ceremony 2005

Second Economic Freedom of the Arab World Conference
Mövenpick Hotel, Dead Sea, Jordan, November 22 to 23, 2007

Under the Royal Patronage of His Royal Highness King Abdullah II, policy makers, government officials, and business representatives from across the Middle East and around the world gathered at the Mövenpick Hotel on the Dead Sea, in Jordan in November 2007 to discuss how economic freedom can improve the lives of people living throughout the Arab world.

The two day conference was co-hosted by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation office in Jordan, the Young Entrepreneurs Association of Jordan, the International Research Foundation of Oman (IRF), and The Fraser Institute of Canada.

Her Excellency Suhair Al-Ali, Minister of Planning for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, delivered the keynote address, in which she discussed the necessity for and challenges of reforms in Jordan.

His Excellency Salem Khazaaleh, Minister of Industry & Trade for Jordan attended the conference as the King's representative.

Presentations on economic freedom and its benefits, entrepreneurship, globalization and income inequality, business regulation, and reforms in Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt followed. The conference concluded with a thought provoking session on security versus liberty. The US Patriot Act, emergency laws in the Middle East and Asia, and terrorism acts in the EU are all based on the assumption that liberty and security are mutually exclusive. That is, the assumption is that we have to give up liberty to gain security. The session focused on a few examples of security laws in the Arab world and how to model and empirically test this hypothesis.

The highlight of the conference was the gala dinner and awards ceremony. On November 22nd at the Mövenpick Hotel on the Dead Sea, Arab countries that have made the most progress in providing their citizens with economic freedom were honoured during an awards ceremony hosted by the International Research Foundation (IRF) from Oman in association with The Fraser Institute. The Economic Freedom of the Arab World awards were based on the Economic Freedom of the Arab World report which measures economic freedom in the Arab nations.

The awards ceremony celebrated the achievements of those Arab nations that have persisted in their efforts to implement reforms and increase the level of economic freedom in their nations. The ceremony was also a reminder to those nations not performing well in economic freedom that improvements are possible and that they can learn from the experience of their neighbours.

The top performers in each of the five sub-categories of economic freedom were:

Lebanon for the Lean Government award;
Saudi Arabia for the Economic and Commercial Law award;
Lebanon for the Access to Sound Money award;
Qatar for the Freedom to Trade award; and
Kuwait for the Ease of Doing Business award.

Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates received recognition for the "Top Achievement in Economic Freedom" for their accomplishments in the overall level of economic freedom.

Today more than ever, the world, including the Arab nations, needs policies that lead to economic prosperity and job creation. The first step toward improvement is an objective measurement of those policies that create wealth. The Economic Freedom of the Arab World does exactly that. Furthermore, the index allows countries to see how their policies differ from those of more prosperous countries, so countries can see for themselves why they rank where they do, and how their ranking can be improved.

It is our hope that nations in the region will use the report as a roadmap for further reforms. Those reforms could not only increase economic freedom in the nations in which they are implemented, but could also create the jobs and prosperity necessary to improve the lives of citizens.

Representatives from the four co-organizers-the International Research Foundation of Oman (IRF), the Friedrich Naumann Foundation office in Jordan, The Fraser Institute of Canada and the Young Entrepreneurs Association of Jordan-responding to questions during a press conference on November 21, 2007.	Mr. Azzan Al Busaidi, CEO, International Research Foundation, Oman, giving welcoming remarks.
Mr. Laith al Qasem, President of the Young Entrepreneurs Association of Jordan giving welcoming remarks.	Her Excellency Suhair Al-Ali, Minister of Planning, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, giving a key note speech on the "The Necessities and Challenges of Reforms" in Jordan.
A group photo with Her Excellency Suhair Al Ali, Minister of Planning & International Cooperation and His Excellency Salem Khazaaleh, Minister of Industry & Trade, Jordan.	Mr. Fred McMahon, Director, Centre for Globalization Studies, The Fraser Institute, Canada, responds to interview questions during one of the coffee breaks.
Mr. Fred McMahon, Director, Centre for Globalization Studies, The Fraser Institute, Canada, with the representatives of nations that received the "Top Achievement in Economic Freedom".	Mr. Fadi Haddadin of the Cato Institute in Washington DC, USA, Editor of Misbah Al Hurriyya, giving a presentation on "Modeling Liberty versus Security: The Way Forward."

Economic Freedom of the Arab World Network Meeting 2006

The first Economic Freedom of the Arab World Meeting was held on December 6-7 in Beirut, Lebanon. The meeting was hosted by the IRF, in partnership with The Fraser Institute, MENA-OECD Investment Programme and Friedrich Naumann Foundation's office in Jordan.

The meeting attracted about 50 participants from the Middle East and the rest of the world. The conference focused on improvement of economic policy in the Arab World as well as reconstruction in Lebanon. Issues such as economic freedom, investment in the Middle East (including Islamic equity investment in the region), public-private partnerships in infrastructure financing, and access to credit and enterprise financing facilities were covered at the conference.

We would like to thank our co-hosts -The Fraser Institute, Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Jordan, and MENA-OECD Investment Programme--without whom this conference would not be possible.

We are immensely grateful to those conference participants who, despite the situation in Beirut at the time of the meeting, decided to attend the meeting and participate in this first regional gathering.

Conference participants listen to one of the opening presentations.

Representatives from Lebanon, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, whose governments received awards in different economic freedom categories, gather for a group photo at the Economic Freedom of the Arab World Award ceremony.

Dr. Michael Walker, President, Fraser Institute Foundation and Senior Fellow at The Fraser Institute, Canada, presents an Omani representative with an Economic Freedom Award.

Panel on Access to Credit and Enterprise Financing Facilities takes questions from the conference participants. From left to right: Ms. Dolly Hatem (Head of Small Business Loans & Kafalat Units at Byblos Bank Sal, Lebanon), Dr. Khater Abi Habib (Chairman Kafalat Corporation, Lebanon), Mr. Nassib Ghobril (Head of Research, Byblos Bank Group, Lebanon), and Dr. Wissam Fahed (Ministry of Finance, Lebanon).

Economic Freedom of the Arab World Awards Ceremony 2006

On the afternoon of December 7, 2006, in conjunction with the Economic Freedom of the Arab World meeting in Beirut, the IRF hosted the second Economic Freedom of the Arab World Awards, based on the Economic Freedom of the Arab World report. Awards were presented to those Arab countries which have highest levels of economic freedom.

Five Arab nations shared this year's Economic Freedom of the Arab World Awards at an awards ceremony in Beirut, Lebanon, hosted by the International Research Foundation (IRF) of Oman.

Oman was first overall among all Arab nations in economic freedom, which measures the extent to which individuals, families, businesses, and other organizations are free to make economic decisions without government interference. Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait also won awards in various aspects of economic freedom. The awards are based on the third annual Economic Freedom of the Arab World Report, published by the IRF and The Fraser Institute.

"This is a tremendous achievement for these nations," said IRF's CEO Azzan Al Busaidi. "A large body of empirical research shows that economic freedom will open the door for new growth and productivity in these nations."

Last year, Lebanon and Oman shared top spot. The awards ceremony was part of the first meeting of the Economic Freedom of the Arab World Meeting, co-sponsored by the IRF, The Fraser Institute, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation of Jordan, and the MENA-OECD Investment program.

Due to increased data availability, the Economic Freedom of the Arab World Report measures at least some areas of economic freedom in 22 nations, up from the 16 nations included last year: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the UAE, and Yemen. Comoros, Iraq, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, and West Bank and Gaza were added this year.

However, data limitations allowed full ranking only of Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, and Yemen. The rankings are entirely based on third party objective data. No subjective judgments are involved.

The report and the full dataset are available at Publications.

Nations are ranked in five areas: size of government; legal structure and security of property rights; access to sound money; freedom to trade internationally, and the regulation of credit, labour, and business. The top performer in each of the sub-categories were:

1) Lean Government Award: Lebanon
This category examines various measures to determine whether the government sector is inappropriately large, crowding out personal choice with government decisions.

2) Commercial and Economic Law and Security of Property Rights Award: Saudi Arabia
This area examines whether laws, primarily dealing with economic and commercial matters, are fairly and transparently applied in a timely manner, and whether property rights and contracting are protected by the rule of law.

3) Sound Money Award: Lebanon
This measures the extent to which a nation's currency is sound and holds its value over time.

4) Free Trade Award: Qatar
This measures the extent to which businesses and individuals can freely trade with businesses and individuals in other nations.

5) Ease of Doing Business Award: Kuwait
This measures the extent to which the regulatory burden hinders the formation or advancement of businesses, the free movement of labour, and ability to obtain or advance credit.

Economic Freedom of the World Network Meeting 2005

This was the first Economic Freedom of the World Network meeting held in the Arab world. It was held from November 20 to 21, 2005, in Muscat, Oman and attracted delegates from across the Arab world as well as from Asia, Europe, Africa, and North, Central and South America.

The meeting, which was co-hosted by The Fraser Institute, was a tremendous success.

The discussions focused on case studies of countries on how they moved on the economic freedom front and what are the lessons/consequences from the process. The meeting had stimulating and thought-provoking presentations from Oman, Kenya, Mongolia, Costa Rica, Zambia, and Slovakia, to name a few.

Special thanks must go to the team organizing the event, Sheikha Al Farsi and in particular we wish to acknowledge Salem Ben Nasser Al Ismaily, Executive President of OCIPED, for inviting the Network to Oman and for his continuing support of its work in the region.

We would also like to thank the sponsors -- The Omani Centre for Investment Promotion and Export Development (OCIPED), Bank Muscat, National Bank of Oman, Oman Arab Bank and Omantel-- without whom this conference would not be possible.

Conference participants gather for a group photo in the Omani sun.	HE Maqbool Ali Sultan, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Oman, giving welcoming remarks.
Salem Ben Nasser Al Ismaily, Executive President of the Omani Centre for Investment Promotion and Export Development (OCIPED) giving presentation on Economic Freedom in the Arab World.

Economic Freedom of the Arab World Awards Ceremony 2005

During the meeting in Muscat, the IRF hosted the first ever Economic Freedom of the Arab World Awards Ceremony. Over 300 people attended the Gala at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel. Oman and Lebanon tied for first place.

See a video of the Awards Ceremony

Lebanon and Oman are the most economically free nations in the Arab world, according to the Economic Freedom of the Arab World, a new study released in Muscat, Oman by Canada's Fraser Institute and the International Research Foundation (IRF) of Oman. Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates tied for third place.

"This is a tremendous achievement for these nations," said Sheikha Al Farsi of the IRF. "A large body of empirical research shows that economic freedom will open the door for new growth and productivity in these nations."

Economic freedom measures the extent to which individuals, families, businesses, and other organizations are free to make economic decisions without government interference.

The Economic Freedom of the Arab World measures economic freedom in16 nations: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the UAE, and Yemen. Nations are ranked in five areas: size of government; legal structure and security of property rights; access to sound money; freedom to trade internationally, and the regulation of credit, labour, and business.

Four of the nations included in the report—Bahrain, Libya, Mauritania and Qatar—lack data for at least one of the above areas and are not included in the overall rankings, though rankings are provided in areas for which data are available.

The Fraser Institute, along with its regional partner, IRF, produces the Economic Freedom of the Arab World, a new initiative to measure economic freedom and how free enterprise throughout the Arab world is lifting individuals and families out of poverty.

The Economic Freedom of the World Network conference, a meeting of the network of international think tanks involved in the Economic Freedom of the World project, was held in Muscat from 20-21 November. As part of that meeting, the IRF hosted an awards dinner to honour the top performers in each of the five sub-categories of economic freedom and the overall Arab Economic Freedom Award for the year 2005. National representatives from across the Arab world, business leaders, and representatives of the diplomatic community were in attendance.

Lebanon and Oman tied as the winner of the overall Arab Economic Freedom Award for 2005. The top performer in each of the sub-categories categories was: