Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

Average expenditureon scientific researchdoes not exceed0.3 per cent ofthe GDP in mostArab countriesThe annual shareper Arab citizenof expenditure onscientific researchdoes not exceed$10, compared,for instance, to theMalaysian citizen’sannual share of $33American Academy of Sciences, LebaneseRabab Karidiya, elected to the CanadianAcademy of Science, and Iraqi Zuha’Hadid, who has won global awards. Theperformance of female Arab researchershas also been distinctive in medical andpublic health research, with femalesappearing in higher numbers than malesin Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Oman.These indicators are significant in thatthey reflect the development of the roleof Arab women in building the field ofresearch and innovation, as well as theirdirect participation in the development ofsocial sectors, particularly by eradicatingsome forms of discrimination and securingequal employment opportunities in a fieldthat requires many years of effort andpersistence.It is clear from the above that the numberof Arab countries that have invested humanresources in full-time scientific researchremains limited, and they score lower onthe basis of this criterion than similarcountries around the world. Yet the failureof these statistics to include Arab countrieswith extensive research experience and thelack of a unified instrument for surveyingresearchers may have led to anunderestimation of the critical scientificmass that is capable of directing futureresearch and development.SCIENCE RESEARCH FUNDINGIN THE ARAB WORLDAverage Arab expenditure on scientificresearch does not exceed 0.3 per cent ofGross Domestic Product (GDP) in mostArab countries, exceptions being Tunisia,Morocco, and Libya, whose spendingrates are in excess of 0.7 per cent. 10However, averages reach 3.8 per cent inSweden, 2.68 per cent in the USA, 3.51per cent in Finland, and 3.18 per centin Japan. Rarely is average expenditureon scientific research lower than 1.8 percent of the GDP in the European or theyoung Asian countries. 11 Yet added to thisfunding crisis for government and privateresearch institutions in the Arab world arecomplications created by the administrativeand financial systems that most of themdeal with and which make them captiveto bureaucratic routines in approvingexpenditures, equipment procurement,salaries, and bonuses. Some countrieshave additionally placed new restrictionson science-related expenditure such asappropriating a percentage of foreign aidallocated for scientific research projects andimposing taxes on science-related purchasessimilar to those imposed on commercial orconsumer goods. In Egypt and Lebanon,for example, tariff laws and statutes do notdistinguish between consumer goods andresearch materials. Such modest fundingcannot help to improve Arab performancein innovation and research. What Arabresearch institutions need most are financialresources to fund the infrastructure ofresearch and development.In contrast to advanced industrial states,funding of scientific research in Arabcountries depends on a single source—the government. This amounts toapproximately 97 per cent of the fundingavailable for scientific research in the region(Sasson, 2007). In contrast, governmentfunding does not exceed 40 per cent inCanada, 30 per cent in the USA, and is lessthan 20 per cent in Japan. 12To get an idea of the status of Arabcountries in comparison to developed stateswith regard to the extent of governmentspending on research and development,we provide data that shows that spendingby the private sector in developed states(Britain, France, Germany, and the USA)is nearly twice that by the public sector. InArab countries, the situation is not merelyreversed; the private sector contributionamounts to barely 5 per cent, even thoughtotal spending on research amounted to ameagre 0.2 per cent of GDP in 2002 (AdibKulu, 2006, in Arabic). In the Arab world,support for research and developmentprogrammes is generally concentrated indirect government funding and in officialuniversity programmes. There is a clearinability to attract substantial funding fromforeign programmes or the private sector.192 ARAB KNOWLEDGE REPORT 2009