Economic cooperation in the developing world

Developed industrial countries adopt economic cooperation vehicles which are different than those of developing countries.

Cooperation among developed countries takes the form of economic blocks or joint agreements, which does not work out for developing countries.

The European Union's single market is a good example of such cooperation, where a single currency and joint economic policies prevail. The EU is now working on opening up energy trade by September, which is an important turning point in solving many energy problems in the world today.

Arab markets

Arab countries as part of developing countries have been trying for decades to enhance their multilateral cooperation. We have seen that in the Joint Arab Market in 1964 and the Arab Free Trade Zone in 2002. However, all such attempts remained on paper, as these agreements have been overlooked or cancelled.

The GCC, on the other hand, has achieved some progress in the area of joint cooperation, but the pending clauses of the GCC Economic Agreement have been repeatedly stalled. This is exactly what happened to the customs barrier and the joint market agreements, and which might happen to the single currency plan as well.

It is obvious that the joint economic cooperation mode is not suitable for developing countries in general for several reasons such as economic and political disagreements. In developing countries, economic issues tend to merge into politics, whereas industrial countries try to decrease this overlapping, which cannot be totally avoided.

Meanwhile, bilateral cooperation has taken wide strides amongst developing countries, such as the many agreements between India and other developing countries, the last of which was the agreement with Oman. Under the agreement, Oman will supply India with gas while it imports coal, which is necessary for its cement industry.

Regionally, Egypt and Jordan agreed on connecting the two country's power energy network. Syria and Lebanon joined them later on after the failure of joint Arab projects in the field of electric power.

Dolphin project

The UAE-Qatar Dolphin project is another great example for bilateral strategic cooperation, while bilateral cooperation agreements between the UAE and North African Arab countries is another good example.

So why don't developing countries change their economic cooperation strategies? Why don't they start successful and bilateral ventures, ending as joint cooperation projects?

These bilateral cooperation methods are more suitable for developing countries because they are more economically feasible and cost efficient. Much time and economic growth are needed for the rapprochement of developing countries, which is natural.

The current objective circumstances cannot be overlooked, and until all this is solved, bilateral cooperation is more feasible and positive for developing countries.

The writer is a UAE economic expert.