Indicators of Intra-Arab Agricultural Trade in Light of Recent and Emerging Crises and Risks

Abstract

The study aimed to shed light on the policies and mechanisms to enhance Arab trade exchange in light of the repercussions of recent and emerging crises and risks, based on the principle of common economic interests, in addition to proposing a set of policies to support Arab agricultural trade exchange and enhance the competitive position of Arabic agricultural foreign trade. The results have shown that there is a relative similarity in the geographical structure of the most important exporting and importing Arab countries within the framework of intra-Arab trade, which indicates the concentration of intra-Arab trade in a group of Arab countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, which is a negative indicator in the future of inter-Arab trade exchange due to a lack of geographical diversity, which increases the exposure of intra-Arab trade to risks and crises. Also, the overlapping of the negative and the positive effects of contemporary crises and risks and the difficulty of predicting them in the long term, as well as the intensity of their impact on Arab economies in general and on Arab trade and agricultural exchange in particular. The study proposed a set of policies that would enhance Arab agricultural trade and protect it from risks. These policies are based on three axes: The first: increasing the exchanged quantities between the Arab countries of agricultural commodities by promoting them to a larger number of importers within the Arab markets, improving the quality of exported commodities, and increasing commodity diversity. The second: increasing Arab countries contribution to the intra-Arab agricultural trade, especially the markets of the countries of Morocco. The third: overcoming the negative impact of recent and emerging crises and risks that effect on inter-Arab agricultural trade exchange.