Islamic Development Bank Group releases integration report for Arab countries

By Gokhan Ergocun

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AA) - Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group released an integration report for Arab countries at its annual meeting in the Saudi port city Jeddah on Wednesday.

The report was prepared as part of the bank's efforts to overcome obstacles in front of cooperation and integration of Arab countries, said Muhammad Al Jasser, the group’s chairman.

The report, covering years between 2010 to 2022, has noticeable changes, the chairman said.

The report aimed to measure the level and progress of economic integration among Arab countries of the bank under five dimensions.

The dimensions, included trade and investment integration, financial markets integration, production networks, connectivity and logistics, and human mobility and institutional integration.

The report said: "The index results reveal that the level of overall intra- Arab integration was steady from 2010 to 2022.

"But the structure of the integration index by dimension has changed considerably during the same period."

While the financial markets integration was the weakest dimension in 2010, it was the largest driver of integration in 2021, the report said.

"On the contrary, the human mobility and institutional integration dimension, which was the strongest dimension in 2010, has gradually declined until 2021," it added.