The assessment made by the Federation of Arab Businessmen (FAB), located in Jordan, that Arab countries' losses resulting from violence and conflicts stand at $245 billion on an annual basis and $1.2 trillion over the past five years is very shocking. These astronomical figures have turned the so-called Arab Spring into a very hot summer.

Arab economic situations are not promising in view of the continued political and security tensions that have been going on for over half a century in many Arab countries. This does not require focusing on more losses. It also calls for excluding the saboteurs themselves from reconstruction contracts, especially since HSBC's assessment of the losses in countries like Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Lebanon is equal to around 35 percent of their annual GDP.

There are expectations that instability and political conflicts will continue in a number of Arab countries, which will affect and destroy their infrastructure and make Arab economic revival unlikely to happen on the short run. This instability was reflected in various Arab economic indexes last year, especially in view of falling oil prices that slowed down Arab economies beyond all expectations. This calls for regional cooperation and selecting the right partners with all technical potentials.

By Labeed Abdal

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