In the aim of supporting member states in enhancing economic planning to achieve stated goals, and based on a number of requests received from member states which demonstrate a strong interest for ESCWA’s technical assistance on policymaking issues in various areas from macroeconomics to the achievement of the SDGs and economic integration, and for its ability to develop user friendly tools, ESCWA started this project entitled “Index Simulator for Policymaking in the Arab Region (ISPAR).

The project aims to develop a software simulator covering selected widely adopted, international indicators, that are related to economic integration, business environment, gender, innovation and digital technology themes. This simulator allows policymakers to compare the outcome of their planned and envisioned reforms and policies. Policymakers could therefore simulate the impact of changing selected development aspects on their national performance in these indicators in an integrated view.

The main objective of the meeting is to inform delegates from ESCWA member states about the ISPAR platform, its current functions and its support to policy making process in the Arab region. The meeting aims also to discuss the future planned activities of the project to update them to member states’ needs.