The Arab League is rich in resources, with enormous oil and natural gas reserves. It also has great fertile lands in the south of Sudan, an area usually referred to as the food basket of the Arab World. The region's instability has not affected its tourism industry, which is considered the fastest growing sector in the region, with Egypt, the UAE, Lebanon, Tunisia and Jordan leading the way. Another industry that is growing steadily in the Arab League is telecommunications. Within less than a decade, local companies such as Orascom and Etisalat have managed to successfully compete internationally as global power players.

Economic achievements among member states have been low in the League's history. Other smaller Arab organizations, such as the GCC, have achieved more than the League has. However, lately there has emerged several major economic projects that slated to be completed soon that appear promising. Of these, the Arab Gas Pipeline, a project which hopes to funnel Egyptian and Iraqi gas to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, and then to Turkey and Europe, is scheduled to reach completion by the year 2010. The GAFTA free trade agreement is to be completed by the January 1, 2008, effectively rendering 95% of all Arab products free of customs tax.

The economic development in the Arab League exhibits a great diversity. There is a significant difference between, on the one hand, the rich oil states of the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain, and on the other hand, the poor countries like the Comoros, Mauritania and Djibouti. For instance, the GDP per capita of the wealthiest Arab Country and the wealthiest in the world, Qatar, is 73 times higher than that of Mauritania^[1].

[edit] Free trade agreements

[edit] List of member states by GDP (PPP)

Arab League HQ building in Cairo, Egypt

Arab League members depending on the GDP PPP

This following table lists the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Arab League and its member states based on purchasing power parity (PPP) and measured in US dollar. If not indicated otherwise, the figures are based on the 2007 data published by the International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, in April 2008.^[2]

Country	GDP (PPP) US$M	GDP (PPP) US$ per capita
Arab Leaguea	2,376,979	13,441
Saudi Arabia	564,561	23,243
Egypt	403,961	5,491
Algeria	224,748	6,533
United Arab Emirates	167,296	37,293
Morocco	138,170	4,433
Kuwait	130,113	39,306
Iraqb	102,300	3,600
Syria	87,091	4,488
Sudan	80,706	2,172
Tunisia	76,999	7,473
Qatar	75,224	80,870
Libya	74,752	12,277
Oman	61,607	23,967
Yemen	52,050	2,335
Lebanon	49,514	13,031
Jordan	27,986	4,886
Bahrain	24,499	32,064
Mauritania	5,818	1,800
Somaliab	5,575	600
Palestineb	5,034	1,100
Djibouti	1,738	2,271
Comoros	719	1,125

Country/Organization	GDP (PPP) US$M	GDP (PPP) US$ per capita
Arab Leaguea	2,376,979	13,441
World	64,903,263	10,060
European Union	14,712,369	30,521
United States	13,843,825	45,845
People's Republic of China	6,991,036	5,292
Japan	4,289,809	33,577
India	2,818,867	2,659
Russia	2,087,815	14,692

Notes:

Note a: The IMF source does not provide data for the compound Arab League. The total GDP figure has been calculated as the sum of the GDPs of the member states. The per capita value is derived on the basis of the population stated in the infobox.

Note b: The IMF source does not provide data for this country. The reported figures are taken from a 2007 estimate of the CIA published in the CIA factbook.^[3] For Palestine, a 2006 estimate was retrieved from the same source which is published as "West Bank (includes Gaza Strip)".

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• http://www.arableagueonline.org/las/arabic/details_ar.jsp?art_id=124&level_id=110
• http://www.amf.org.ae/venglish/
• Full text of the Agadir Agreement (English version)
• The Agadir Agreement and Open regionalism by Steffen Wippel