Within the joint cooperation framework between the Union of Arab Banks (UAB) and ESCWA/ICT Division, the Arab Forum on the ICT Sector was held in the city of Hammamet in Tunisia from 7 to 10 May 2013, under the patronage and with the participation of the Minister of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), H.E. Mr. Mongi Marzoug. 

The forum encompassed two consecutive events, namely the Expert Group Meeting on Investment, Research, Development and Innovation in the ICT Sector (7-8 May 2013), and the Conference on Investment and Finance of the ICT Sector in the Arab Region (9-10 May 2013).  Participants in the Forum included experts who are stakeholders from the public sector, private sector, civil society, and academia, and the Forum included discussions and deliberations on the development of a competitive ICT sector in the Arab region and the strengthening the financing and investment mechanisms and encouraging business initiatives in the sector.

The event concluded with the Forum's final statement "Towards Strengthening Competitiveness in ICT Sector through Promoting Investment and Innovation", through which the participants emphasized the following main points:

(a)    Importance of Government's focus on the ICT sector and considering it a pivotal sector in sustainable development strategies, and development of legal and organizational frameworks and legislations, especially those related to creativity, intellectual property and new patters such as open innovation and living labs, and to the continue efforts to provide the necessary infrastructure;
(b)    The need for cooperation with universities and research centres to develop incentives for researchers to focus on applied research and knowledge transfer in addition to theoretical research;
(c)    The importance of inviting the banking sector to connect with and increase its contribution to financing the ICT sector;
(d)    The need to call upon the financial institutions to identify the funding mechanisms needed to support the ICT sector and broaden its development capabilities;
(e)    The necessity for continued cooperation between the stakeholders and partners in order to develop a plan that includes a set of practical actions and include this plan in the study prepared by ESCWA on "Competitiveness of the ICT Sector in the Arab Region: innovation and investment imperatives," which was discussed in detail during the expert group meeting, and to continue the efforts on its implementation.

The expert group meeting aimed to reach a vision and set recommendations for developing a competitive ICT sector in the Arab region, and was attended by around 40 experts.  ESCWA presented and solicited comments from the participants towards enhancing the content of a study entitled "Competitiveness of the ICT Sector in the Arab Region: innovation and investment imperatives".  The main topics addressed included: (a) Competitiveness of the ICT sector and its contribution to the Knowledge Based Economy; (b) Investment ecosystem of the ICT sector; (c) Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) ecosystem of the ICT sector; (d) Future vision for strengthening competitiveness in the ICT sector.

The Conference aimed at promoting ICT sector financing and investments, and business entrepreneurships, and was attended by around 60 participants, and the speakers addressed the main topics: (a) ICT Sector - Emerging Technologies and Opportunities for Investment; (b) Banking, Financing and Investment Sectors - ICT Investment Prospects; and (c) Innovators and Incubators, and the future vision for promoting investments in the ICT sector. 

Forum documents has additional information on the Forum joint events.  For inquiries and correspondences, please contact the organizers as follows:   

Ms. Mirna Barbar, ICT Officer, ICT Policies, ICTD, UN-ESCWA, Beirut, Lebanon
Phone: +961-1-978552/ 510, Fax: +961-1-981510, barbarm@un.org, escwa-ictd@un.org

Ms. Dina Kaddouh, Director, Regional Office for Maghreb Countries, Union of Arab Banks, Tunis, Tunisia
Phone: +216-71-908083, Fax: +216-71-951419, dina@uabonline.org