Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

FIGURE 5-3Per capita GDP and the innovation system index1210Innovation Index8642Med HDEgyptMoroccoLow HD SyriaYemenWorldMENAJordanLebanon TunisiaAlgeriaOmanSaudi ArabiaBahrainHi HDUAEKuwaitQatar0SudanMauritaniaDjibouti0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 45000Gross Domestic ProductSource: World Bank database, Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM), http://info.worldbank.org/etools/kam2/KAM_page5.aspin culture and the human and socialsciences.THE CORRELATION BETWEENGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTAND INNOVATION IN THEARAB REGIONThe world’s countries can be classifiedaccording to the correlation betweentheir Gross Domestic Product (GDP)and innovation. In Western industrialcountries and those with growing industrialeconomies, this typically is a positivecorrelation, for these countries’ positionson the innovation index rise in step withtheir GDPs. Arab countries, however, donot show a positive correlation betweenGDP and innovation. Despite the highGDP in oil-producing Arab countries, theirranking on the innovation and scientificresearch index remains low in comparisonto other Arab countries with lower incomesbut which are more productive with regardto research and innovation (Figure 5-3).DEMOGRAPHICS AND THECHALLENGE OF INCLUSIONOF YOUTHArab countries face the challenge of apopulation whose youth and adolescents(ten to twenty-four years of age) nowform two thirds of the total and who areexpected to number between 120 and 150million by 2025 (Population ReferenceBureau, 2006). Under ideal circumstances,this high percentage would translate intothe creative energy of a youthful society,yet many of these Arab young peoplesuffer from unemployment and a braindrain that includes even professionals andhighly-qualified individuals.In early 2008, experts confirmed that theArab countries were expected to spendmore than $3,000 billion in the followingfew years on construction, development,and infrastructure projects that wouldrequire innovation and reliance on scientificproducts and services and advancedtechnology. Effective employment of thecapacities of youth would alleviate theunemployment crisis in the Arab world,Despite the highGDP in oil-producingArab countries,their ranking onthe innovation andscientific researchindex remains lowin comparison toother Arab countrieswith lower incomesbut which are moreproductive withregard to researchand innovationARAB PERFORMANCE IN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION183