Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade Sami Haddad and Executive Secretary Mervat Tallawy will hold a press conference to launch the annual study prepared by UN-ESCWA entitled “Annual Review of Developments in Globalization and Regional Integration in the Arab Countries”. The press conference will be held at 10 am on Friday 18 May 2007 at the Safir Heliopolitan Hotel in Beirut.

In its fifth issue, the annual review addresses both the extent to which Arab economies are integrated into the world economy and the extent of economic integration between Arab countries. This issue does not only focus on the performance of the member countries of UN-ESCWA but has expanded to include all Arab countries. In addition, this issue addresses the degree of integration of Arab countries into the world economy by analyzing their share in some indicators like total Gross Domestic Product, international trade, tourism, production and reserves of oil and gas, whereas greater focus is given to foreign direct investment.

The United Nations Information Centre in Beirut urges the media to devote to this press conference the attention it deserves.