Abstract
Coverage. The MENA region is defined to encompass the economies of the Arab League (Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Republic of Yemen), as well as the Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel.11 The region possesses abundant natural resources and, on average, enjoys a reasonable standard of living. However, individual countries exhibit a broad diversity of characteristics. They vary substantially in natural resources, economic and geographical size, population, and standards of living.
1. Climate change is an important consideration in Dutch national policies. The Netherlands committed to EU targets of 55 percent emission reduction in 2030 relative to 1990 levels and climate neutrality in 2050. The recent energy price surges added urgency to transitioning away from fossil fuels. At the same time, the country is vulnerable to sea-level rise (SLR) and flood risks, as about one-quarter of the country is below sea level and a large part of the lowlands are in a delta. The impacts of higher temperature and changes on the frequency of extreme events appear to be modest for the Netherlands by mid-century, but highly uncertain depending on warming scenarios, which in turn depend on global mitigation actions.
The Sixth Five Year Plan, as outlined in Bangladesh's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, targets strategic growth and employment. The medium-term macroeconomic framework plan entails the involvement of both the private and public sectors. Human resources development strategy programs reaching out to the poor and the vulnerable population, as well as environment, climate change, and disaster risk management, have been included in the plan. Managing regional disparities for shared growth and strategy for raising farm productivity and agricultural growth have been outlined. Diversifying exports and developing a dynamic manufacturing sector are all inclusive in the proposed plan.