ME 101 Lecture #06: The Politics of Economic Reform

ME 101 Lecture #06: The Politics of Economic Reform by Rana Karadsheh-Haddad [Thursday, 24 September 2020] After focusing on the geopolitical aspects of the region during the first six lectures, we will now turn to another important aspect, particularly for Singapore: The economic transformation being undertaken by many countries in the region, particularly the oil-producing ones. This effort has been underway for several years now, but has advanced in fits and starts, despite ambitious plans to diversify away from hydrocarbons, such as Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. The Covid-19 pandemic and global oil price collapse have made matters worse, and hard-won gains may be reversed as a result. Ms Rana Karadsheh will discuss the future of the Middle East’s economic transformation programmes and the challenges they face, as well as their potential. Ms Karadsheh is the regional industry director, Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services for Asia and the Pacific at the International Finance Corporation, which is part of the World Bank group. IFC is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Its portfolio in the region totals over US$5 billion and spans 55 active advisory projects.