Morocco, Iran and Egypt

Egypt: Lack of substantial progress on economic reform since the mid 1990s has limited foreign direct investment in Egypt and kept annual GDP growth in the range of 2 to 3 percent in 2001-03. Prior to 2001, Egypt's GDP grew fairly consistently for two decades. For example, during the 1980s, GDP grew at an average rate of 5.4 percent per year. As a result, Egypt's total GDP more than tripled from U.S. $23 billion in 1980 to over $71 billion in 1998. Between 1990 and 2001, Egypt's GDP growth averaged a respectable 4.5 percent.

Unfortunately, much of Egypt still suffers from poverty and high unemployment despite efforts to expand the economy. Egypt is struggling to keep pace with the world economy and for several decades Egypt has imported more than it exports. For example, in 1997 exports were $16.2 billion while imports were valued at $18.3 billion. Egyptian officials in late 2003 and early 2004 proposed new privatization and customs reform measures, but the government is likely to pursue these initiatives cautiously and gradually to avoid a public backlash over potential inflation or layoffs associated with the reforms.

On the bright side, income distribution is not badly skewed. The lowest 40 percent of households earn 21 percent of household income and the upper 20 percent of the population earns 41.1 percent of household income. The Egyptian government has done an adequate job of providing its population with access to clean drinking water,

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ture. The reason is the inability of Egypt's markets to compete because its industries do not have a diverse industrial base nor does it add significant value to the products it manufactures. The government of Egypt has committed to promote economic development, but thus far these efforts have failed to produce sufficient growth in Egypt's ability to compete internationally. On the whole, Egypt has accomplished a great deal in improving the quality of life of its citizens, but far more needs to be done to address the weaknesses inherent in Egypt's national economy. Morocco: Morocco has a population of about 30 million. It is a developing country, and like Egypt, Morocco's faces problems typical of developing nations including the need to curtail government spending, the need to reduce constraints on private industry and foreign trade, and the desire to develop sustainable economic growth. Gradual political reforms in the 1990s resulted in the establishment of a bicameral legislature in 1997. GDP was an estimated $128.3 billion in 2003, and real growth rate of GDP in 2003 was 6 percent. Morocco's real GDP growth rate in 2003 was 6 percent, slightly higher than Egypt's GDP growth rate. This increase in Morocco's real GDP was a

Category: Foreign - M