coll. - The Mediterranean Middle East and North Africa 2018 : Interim Assessment of Key SME Reforms

This project was funded by the European Commission and supported by the network of Experts on Industrial Co-operation of the Union for the Mediterranean. The project was undertaken in the context of the MENA-OECD Competitiveness Programme, which is supported financially by the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA).

The assessment leading to this report was based on a collaborative and consultative process involving MED governments and public institutions, private sector organisations and civil society. Each of the participating MED economies contributed to the collection of data and information on SME policies under the supervision of a national co-ordinator. The Delegations of the European Union in each MED economy also provided important information.

National co-ordinators were: Abdellah Telailia (Ministry of Industrial Development and Investment Promotion, Algeria); Amr Taha (Industrial Modernisation Centre, Egypt); Nir Ben-Aharon (Ministry of Economy, Israel); Mira Hussein (Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation); Manal Yassine (Ministry of Industry, Lebanon); Abderraouf Aissaoui (Morocco SME, Morocco); Manal Farhan Ibrahim/Shkoukani and Haytham Wahidi (Palestinian Ministry of National Economy and Palestinian Investment Promotion Agency); and Mr Wajdi Neffati (Agency of Industrial Promotion and Innovation, Tunisia).

Useful comments were provided by the EU Delegations in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, PA and Tunisia. The report was also peer reviewed by Ludovica Agr (Italian Agency for Territorial Development) and Sadok Bejja (Tunisian Ministry of Industry) in their role as co-chairs of the MENA-OECD Working Group on SME and Entrepreneurship Policy, under the MENA-OECD Competitiveness Programme.

This report was prepared by the Middle East and Africa (MEA) Division of the OECD Global Relations Secretariat and the European Training Foundation (ETF). The OECD team involved in preparing the report included Jorge Galvez Mendez, Pilar Snchez-Bella, Roger Fores Carrion, Elise Jelsma, Chema Triki and Lucie Kirstein, under the supervision of Carlos Conde, Head of the MEA Division. The ETF team preparing the sections on human capital development included Mariavittoria Garlappi, Anthony Gribben, Olena Bekh, Kristien Van den Eynde and Alice Zanasi. Bill Tompson and Antonio Fanelli from the Global Relations Secretariat provided important comments on the report. Miriam Allam, Kenza Kachani and other colleagues at the Public Governance Directorate of the OECD also provided useful comments.