Impact of Geopolitical Factors on Market Shares of Leading Exporters in GCC Merchandise Imports

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Speaker Nader Habibi will discuss how the relative market shares of the leading trade partners of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have evolved in the past two decades, putting a special emphasis on the impact of political and diplomatic relation on an exporting country's market share in GCC as well as in the Arab world in general.  Trade partners of Arab countries that are included in this analysis are: China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Among these countries the United States and the United Kingdom, in particular, have had complex diplomatic relations with the Arab world because of the Arab-Israeli conflict and their strategies for access to the region's fossil energy assets. These complex relations are expected to have had an impact on their image and the demand for their goods and services in the region.

A key trend analysed is the gradual increase in market shares of China and India in the GCC and the Arab world in general and the declining market shares of the US and Europe. In addition to total merchandise imports the study will also look at recent trands in market shares in GCC market for some specific products such as manufacturing and transport equipment.

Refreshments will be served.