The Mohammed bin Rashid School Of Government hosted the 1st Global Conference on Economic Diversification (GCED) in Dubai in 2024 to address methodological, theoretical, policy focused, and thought-leadership outcomes based on the EDI dataset and beyond. GCED brought together research scholars, academics, policy experts and government decision makers from around the world working on the frontiers of research and implementation of economic diversification.
Conference Agenda
Day 1: Thursday, October 31, 2024 | |
8:30 – 9:00 am | Registration and Coffee |
9:00 – 09:30 am |
Opening Remarks · Welcome Remarks: MBRSG · Conference Overview |
09:30 – 9:45 am 09:45 – 10:30 am |
Keynote speeches · Opening Address: H.E. Alia Al Mazrouei, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship in the UAE · The Linkages between Economic Diversification and Complexity: Prof. Cesar A. Hidalgo, Professor of Behavioral sciences, Toulouse School of Economics, Founder, Data wheel and Co-author, Economics Complexity Index |
10:30 – 10:50 am | Coffee Break and Group photo |
10:50 – 12:00 pm |
Economic Diversification Pathways in the Gulf Region · Mr. Tariq Rashid Al Suwaidi , Ministry of Economy, UAE · Dr. Jarmo Kotilaine, Chief Planning and Monitoring Officer of Tamkeen and Chief Economist at Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), Bahrain · Dr. Al Moatasim Al Yaaqubi, Executive Director, The National Program for Economic Diversification (Tanweea), Oman · Dr. Vito Intini, Chief Economist, Arab States, UNDP · Dr. Khalid Al Wazani, Professor of Public Policies, Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (Moderator) |
What are the pathways to advance economic diversification in the Gulf? The panel will bring together distinguished policymakers and thought-leaders from countries across the GCC to discuss the strategies for economic diversification in the revenue, trade, and output pillars, in light of efforts to diversify away from fossil fuel dependence towards sustainable development. | |
12:00 – 12:45 pm |
Keynote Address: Financing Green Pathways to Economic Diversification: Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda. |
12:45 – 1:45 pm | Lunch break and poster presentations |
1:45 pm – 3:10 pm |
Global Reflections on the Challenges of Economic Diversification · Dr. Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department, International Monetary Fund (IMF)* · Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Special Envoy for Financing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. · Dr. Clovis Freire Jr, Chief of Commodity Research and Analysis Section, UNCTAD · Dr. Younous Abouyoub, Chief of Governance and State Building , United Nations ESCWA · Dr. Nasser Saidi, Co-author of the Global Economic Diversification Index, Former Finance Minister of Lebanon, President NS&A (Moderator) |
What is the role of economic diversification in development in a changing global landscape? The expert panel will feature senior representatives from international organizations including the IMF, the World Bank, the OECD and UN agencies. The panel will explore the global drivers, challenges, and strategies for economic diversification across commodity dependent and non-commodity dependent countries worldwide. | |
3:10 – 3:15 pm | Coffee break |
3:15 – 4:15 pm |
Closed Policy council session: Advancing Economic Diversification Measurement: Data for Better Policy The GCED closed policy council session will involve high level policymakers, academic faculty and experts on economic diversification discussing various measures of economic diversification, challenges related to measurement and data availability, methodological improvements which can be made to the global EDI index, challenges and policy recommendations around the practical implementation of diversification strategies in the GCC and beyond, as well as the status of the surrounding research ecosystem. |
3:15 pm – 4:45 pm |
Session 1: Research Papers presentations
|
4:45 pm – 5:00 pm | Coffee break |
5:00 – 6:30 pm |
Session 2: Research Papers presentations
|
7:30 pm | Visit: At the Top, Burj Khalifa (Optional, invite only) |
Day 2 (Virtual)
Paper Presentations: Link to Papers
9 – 10 am |
|
10 – 11 am |
|
11 – 12 pm |
|
About the Speakers
H.E. Alia Abdulla Al Mazrouei
Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, UAE
Keynote speaker
H.E. Alia Abdulla Al Mazrouei has been announced as Minister of State for Entrepreneurship during the new UAE cabinet formation in July 2024. H.E. Alia Al Mazrouei is a highly accomplished entrepreneur with a diverse career spanning entrepreneurship, the private and government sectors.
H.E. Al Mazrouei has held a several high-level positions in leading government institutions. As the Chief Executive Officer of the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, she was responsible for overseeing the organization’s efforts to promote entrepreneurship and support small and medium-sized businesses in the UAE. She also served as an Advisor to the Chairman at the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, and the Director General of the Human Resources Authority (HRA) in Abu Dhabi. Prior to that, she was the Director General of the Abu Dhabi School of Government (ADSG). Prior to joining the Government, she was Group Chief Operating Officer of Mazrui International LLC, established by her family 50 years ago and which today is an Abu Dhabi-based conglomerate with a highly diversified business portfolio.
In 2013 she was awarded the Arab Women’s Award for Entrepreneurship and in 2014 was voted the twenty sixth most powerful Arab woman in the Forbes Middle East list of the world’s 200 most powerful Arab women. In 2017, she was included in the Forbes list of the world’s 100 most powerful Arab business women.
HE Al Mazrouei is highly respected for her business acumen, creativity, and her flair for mentoring and nurturing new Emirati talent.
H.E. Alia Al Mazrouei received her Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree in Management Information Systems from the United Arab Emirates University in 2001. After completing her undergraduate studies, she went on to pursue a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Global Leadership at the same institution, which she received in 2005. Throughout her academic career, Al Mazrouei has demonstrated a strong commitment to her studies and a passion for leadership and management.
Prof. Cesar Hidalgo
Professor, Toulouse School of Economics and co-author Economic Complexity Index
Keynote speaker
Professor César A. Hidalgo is a Chilean-Spanish-American scholar who holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Notre Dame and is well known for his contributions to economic complexity and applied artificial intelligence.
Hidalgo is a Professor at the Toulouse School of Economics and head of the Center for Collective Learning (CCL), a multidisciplinary research laboratory with offices in Toulouse and at Corvinus University of Budapest. Prior to moving to Europe, Hidalgo led MIT’s Collective Learning group and was a research fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Hidalgo’s contributions have been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2018 Lagrange Prize.
In his presentation, Professor Hidalgo will talk about economic complexity and on how we leverage economic data and machine learning to understand and foster economic development, while also drawing comparisons and insights about the economic diversification index and economic diversification in general.
Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin
UN High Level Champion for Climate Change
Keynote speaker and Expert Speaker – Panel of International Organizations
Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin is an economist with more than 30 years of experience in international finance and development. Dr. Mohieldin is the UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for Egypt. He currently serves as the Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund representing the Arab States and the Maldives. He has been the United Nations special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda since February 2020. Previously, Dr. Mohieldin was the Minister of Investment of Egypt from 2004 – 2010, and more recently, served as the World Bank Group Senior Vice President for the 2030 Development Agenda, United Nations Relations and Partnerships.
Dr. Mohieldin also served on several Boards of Directors in the Central Bank of Egypt and the corporate sector. He was a member of the Commission on Growth and Development and was selected a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in 2005.
He is a Professor of Economics and Finance at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University and as a Visiting Professor at several renowned Universities in Egypt, Korea, the UAE, the UK and the USA. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of Durham University Business School.
Dr. Mohieldin holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom; an M.Sc.in Economics and Social Policy Analysis from the University of York, United Kingdom; a Diploma of Development Economics from the University of Warwick; and a B.Sc. in Economics from Cairo University. The American University in Cairo bestowed Dr. Mohieldin degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, in recognition of his status as a leading public servant at both the national and international levels focusing on economic reform, development, and inclusion. He has authored numerous publications and articles in leading journals in the fields of economics, finance, and development.
Dr Nasser Saidi
Co-author of the Global Economic Diversification Index,
CEO, Nasser Saidi & Associates, Ex-Minister of Economy, Lebanon
Moderator, Panel of International Organizations
Dr Nasser H. Saidi heads Nasser Saidi & Associates an economic, financial and governance consultant and advisory firm to the banking & financial sector, governments, central banks, regulators, multi-national and regional companies. He is the former Chief Economist & Strategist of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) from 2005 to 2012, and as a senior executive he built & promoted the centre and its strategic development and links with foreign governments, central banks, IFIs, banks & financial institutions and international financial centres.
Dr Saidi is the Founder and former Executive Director of the DIFC’s Hawkamah-Institute for Corporate Governance and the Mudara Institute of Directors, 2006-2012. Dr Saidi is Chairperson of the Saif Al Ghurair Group and a non-executive board member of the National Bank of Kuwait, MAF Trust and Future Pipe Industries. He chairs the MENA Clean Energy Business Council (www.cebcmena.com) promoting clean energy and climate tech solutions & policies in the MENA countries. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), was a member of the IMF’s Regional Advisory Group for MENA and co-chaired the OECD MENA Corporate Governance Working Group.
He is a public speaker and commentator in international and regional media, author of numerous articles and has authored several books and publications addressing macroeconomic, capital market development and international economic issues in the MENA region, the GCC countries and Lebanon.
His interests include macroeconomics, financial market development, FinTech, payment systems, international economic policy, corporate governance, climate change and digitalisation. Dr Saidi was the Minister of Economy and Trade and Minister of Industry of Lebanon between 1998 and 2000. He was the First Vice-Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon for two successive mandates, 1993-1998 and 1998-2003, a period spanning reconstruction of Lebanon’s economy & its banking and financial sector. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan appointed him, in his personal capacity, as a Member of the UN Committee for Development Policy (UNCDP) for two mandates over the period 2000-2006, In 2014, he was named among the fifty most Influential Arabs in the World by The Middle East magazine, for the fourth consecutive year and named among the 500 Most Powerful Arabs in the world by Arabian Business for the second consecutive year.
Prior to his public career, Dr Saidi was a private banker and served as an economic adviser and director to central banks and financial institutions in Arab countries, Europe and Central and Latin America. Dr Saidi was an academic, serving as a Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago, the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales (Geneva, CH), and the Université de Genève. He also served as a professor at the American University of Beirut and the Université St. Joseph in Beirut. Dr Saidi holds a Ph.D. and a M.A. in Economics from the University of Rochester in the USA, a M.Sc. from University College, London University and a B.A. from the American University of Beirut.
Dr Clovis Freire Jr
Chief, Commodity Research and Analysis Section, Commodities Branch, UNCTAD
Expert Speaker – Panel of International Organizations
Clovis Freire Junior is Chief, Commodity Research and Analysis Section, Commodities Branch, of the Division on International Trade and Commodities of UNCTAD in Geneva. He is an Economist specialized in economic diversification and strategies for building productive capacities in developing countries. His work supports the structural transformation and sustainable development of commodity-dependent developing countries. He has over 20 years of work experience in the United Nations in programmes related to economic diversification, commodity dependence, least developed countries, and technology and innovation for development. He holds a degree in Computer Engineering from the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA), Brazil, a master’s degree in computer sciences from the University de Brasília (UnB), an MBA in Strategic Management of Information Systems from the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), Brazil, and a PhD in Economics from the Maastricht University, in Maastricht, the Netherlands on the theme of “Diversification and Structural Economic Dynamics”.
Dr. Younous Abouyoub
Chief of Governance and State-Building, UN ESCWA
Expert Speaker – Panel of International Organizations
Dr Younes Abouyoub has over 20 years of experience in diplomacy, international affairs, geopolitics, and development. He is currently the Chief of Governance and State-Building at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA). He is in charge of a diverse portfolio of programmes on SDGs and Agenda 2030, governance and institutional development for conflict prevention and sustainable development, which provides member States with substantive analysis, policy advice, technical assistance, capacity-building and knowledge sharing on sustainable development, governance and institutional development, including public policy making, public sector reform, post-conflict transition, crisis and conflict management, and socio-economic development. This holistic approach stresses the importance of laying the foundations for accountable, responsive and inclusive governance institutions, as well as crisis management and post-conflict institutional rehabilitation as foundational elements for sustainable socio-economic development. Dr. Younes Abouyoub, leads the publication of the Arab Governance Report and the work of UNESCWA on governance, which is linked to efforts to help member States to develop transparent, accountable, inclusive and effective public sector institutions and, in so doing, to improve Government public service delivery. It shares best practices, particularly with crisis-hit, conflict-affected and post-conflict countries, and Least Developed Countries, and runs innovative technical cooperation projects designed to bolster the capacity of Member States to respond to emerging crises, build resilience and chart the path towards sustainable development. Younes Abouyoub holds a Ph.D. in political sociology and M.As in Geopolitics and Law.
Dr Khalid Al Wazani
Professor of Public Policy, Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government
Moderator, GCC Countries Panel
Khalid Al Wazani is a Professor of Public Policies in Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG). During 2019-2020, he served as a full time Chairman of Jordan Investment Commission (JIC). Between 2015- 2019 he served as the Strategy and Knowledge Advisor for Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) in Dubai. He was also the Chief Economist/ Strategist & Founding Partner of Issnaad Consulting and between 2006-2011 served in the the private sector as General Manger & CEO of Saraya Aqaba Real Estate, Taameer Jordan Holdings (PLC) and Darat Jordan Holdings (PLC).
Earlier in his career, Dr. Wazani was associated professor of Economics at the Department of Economics at the Hashemeyeh University. Dr. Wazani was appointed as Deputy Dean for Faculty of Economics at the same university. Just before that, he established a research, consultancy and community service center at the university, and served as the first General Manager of the center during 1997-1999. Dr. Wazani has also held the position of Director General for the Jordanian Customs Department during 1999-2001.
Later on (Jul 2001- Nov. 2005) he was appointed as an Advisor and Director of the Economic and Development Division at the Royal Hashemite Court during which he served as the Head of the Economic Team for HM King Abdullah II. In early 2004 he served as the Deputy Chairman & Director General of Social Security Corporation in Jordan till early 2006.
Dr. Vito Intini
Regional Chief Economist for Arab States, UNDP
Speaker, GCC countries Panel, UNDP
Vito Intini is the Regional Chief Economist and Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Finance Team Leader at UNDP in the Arab States region. Prior to this position, he was the Principal Macroeconomic Adviser at UN DESA in NY, where he worked on the global macroeconomic forecasting model, socioeconomic assessments of large infrastructure projects, quantitative methods to measure SDG interactions and prioritization, SDG costing and budgeting, and led the preparation of the UN guidance on Economic Transformation, among other activities. Before DESA, Vito worked at UNCDF where he led the global program on Municipal Finance.
Earlier on, he was the Chief of the Economic Governance Section at ESCWA in Beirut where he led several publications and capacity building programs including on measurement of inequality, national sustainable development strategies, fiscal policy, development in conflict, market competition, among others.
Vito was also a Private and Financial Sector Specialist at the World Bank in the Balkan region.
He also worked for OECD, OSCE, EU and the academia. He has also been a Fulbright visiting fellow.
Vito specialized in International Economics, holds master’s degrees in environmental policies, Development and Labor Economics, and specialized in Regional Economics and Economic Geography during his Ph.D. studies and in Econometrics at postgraduate level.
Mr. Tariq Al Suwaidi
Ministry of Economy
Speaker, GCC Countries Panel, UAE
Tariq Alsuwaidi is a proficient Economic Expert at the UAE Ministry of Economy. With over a decade of experience, he has progressed from field surveys to high-level economic analysis, shaping strategies that align with the nation’s economic policies. His role involves critical data analysis and providing insights that drive important policy decisions. Tariq has been key in fostering collaboration between domestic and international organizations, contributing to the UAE’s economic goals. His expertise ensures that strategic initiatives are well-supported and effectively implemented, strengthening economic development.
H.E. Eng. Moatesem Al Yaaqubi
Executive Director, National Economic Diversification Program
Speaker, GCC Countries Panel, Oman
Al Muatasim holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Franklin University in the United States and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Swansea University in the United Kingdom. He has been serving as the Executive Director of the National Economic Diversification Program (Tanweea) since early 2023, under the direct supervision of the Minister of Economy.
With extensive experience in project management, the oil and gas sector, and institutional transformation, Al-Mu’tasim leads the program, which focuses on three key workstreams: economic challenges and international standards and indicators, policies and initiatives, and integrated economic clusters.
Dr. Jarmo Kotilaine
Economic Advisor, Tamkeen
Speaker, GCC countries Panel, Bahrain
Jarmo Kotilaine has advised Bahrain’s Ministry of Finance and National Economy as well as Tamkeen, a fund devoted to driving private sector and human capital development, since 2016. He previously worked as the Chief Economist of the Bahrain Economic Development Board and as Chief Economist of the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia.
Dr Kotilaine has extensive experience as an economic and financial consultant with a primary focus on emerging markets. He is the author of Sustainable Prosperity in the Arab Gulf: From Miracle to Method (London, 2023), Trials of Resilience: How COVID-19 is Driving Economic Change in the Arab Gulf (London, 2021), and a regular commentator in the Gulf media.
Dr Kotilaine studied economics and economic history at Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard.
Registration
Registration Fees varies based on the Inequality adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) of the country you reside in:
- Very high/ High IHDI Countries: US$ 500
- Low/Medium IHDI Countries: US$150
Click here to view the UNDP IHDI classification for countries.
Note: Please first fill out the registration form below and after submission of this form, you will receive the details and link to pay and complete your registration via email.
Call for papers
The MBRSG is launching a new research series of policy papers with a focus on comparative policy analysis of economic diversification.
The aim of this new series if to conduct an analysis of the policy and determinants of economic diversification within a group of countries (regional, sub-regional, level of natural resource endowment), while using and making sense of the 2024 EDI findings and underlying data made available to researchers. We look to explicate and contextualize the factors that contribute to both temporary changes and structural transformations related to economic diversification. By bringing scholars and policy practitioners together through this timely series, we hope to build a repository of practice-relevant research around this essential topic. This would serve as an important contribution to the literature and policy around economic diversification at regional and global levels.
Call for papers for the GCED 2024 is now open! Review the list of suggested topics below. Submission guidelines are to be strictly followed. The types of submissions we will accept are: a) Full length research papers. Highest priority will be given to submissions of this type. b) Research/policy papers c) Case studies b) Posters. Posters should be based on original research work done by the author(s). We will also consider abstracts and extended abstracts; however, abstracts will have an earlier deadline for submission and will be reviewed at an earlier time on a rolling basis. If a submitted abstract is accepted after review, then a full-length paper/case/poster submission from the author must follow. Please read the call for papers for further guidelines about each type of submission. Once ready to submit, please click the button below, create an Easychair account and make your submission!
Why participate?
- Engage and network with global research and policy leaders from international organizations and top academic institutions working on the frontiers of economic diversification in a lively setting.
- Get peer review on your research work from top academics and scholars in the field
- Engage and foster research opportunities: Accepted papers will be eligible for the “Best paper award” and exceptional works will be compiled and featured in the Economic Diversification Index 2025 report to be launched at the World Government Summit 2025 in Dubai
- Conference proceedings from accepted papers will be published and available across the internet for public use.
- Travel grants and support will be available for eligible accepted authors to attend the conference.
Suggested topics
The program committee of the 1st Global Conference on Economic Diversification seeks original research to tackle the different domains of economic diversification. The following list provides guiding examples of potential topics that are targeted in this call of papers, yet other topics are welcome. We are seeking papers that explore the following topics based on the Global Economic Diversification Index data:
- Comparative analysis of economic diversification paths in oil-producing countries and other commodity-dependent economies;
- Country case studies, utilizing historical data on diversification over the past 2 decades;
- Regional comparative analysis (based on regional groupings or sub-groupings available on the EDI website);
- Global governance implications of economic diversification considering the EDI datasets
- Policy analysis (country or regional-level) related to economic diversification practices;
- Methodological innovations exploring the EDI data in combination with qualitative or mixed method approaches;
- Institutionalist and path-dependency analysis of diversification trends on a national level.
- The impact of the technologies in the fourth industrial revolution, including AI and digitization, on policies or trajectories of economic diversification;
- Quantitative or qualitative analysis on paths of green economic diversification i.e., analyzing economic diversification trajectories that also contribute to a green growth path for the economy;
- Innovations in theorizing and measuring economic diversification;
- Expanded data analysis that utilize other relevant data sources that can add new dimensions of analysis to EDI datasets;
Authors are highly encouraged to use the publicly available EDI data in their papers. However, papers that do not use the data but pertain to the suggested topics and in compliance with the submission guidelines will also be considered.
Author guidelines
Manuscripts are to be submitted exclusively in either English or Arabic. Please refer to the “submission types” section on the call for papers for guidelines to be followed for each submission type, including word count and recommended format. Prior to submission, authors are advised to thoroughly proofread their work to eliminate any errors. Robustness checks on empirical analyses is encouraged. A bibliography section should be included at the end of the paper to cite references, with in-text citations following the MLA format guidelines.
Submitted papers must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review. Papers that have been previously published or presented elsewhere, but have undergone substantial revision, enhancement, or modifications before submission to us may be considered.
All work is expected to have original content written by the listed author(s) only. A full list of references must be cited for all types of work.
Important Dates
Call for papers issued
Research papers, Policy/management papers, case studies, posters are due
Author notifications (accepted papers, cases, posters)
Posters and demo proposals due
Early registration begins
Author registrations are due
Paper revision due
Early registration closes
Regular registration begins
Conference
Program Committee
- Dr. Khalid Al Wazani, Associate Professor of Public Policies, Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government
- Dr. Reda Cherif, Senior Economist, IMF
- Dr. Nicolas Depetris-Chauvin, Professor of International Economics, Geneva School of Business Administration
- Dr. Mark Esposito, Professor of Economics, Hult International Business School
- Dr. Clovis Freire, Chief, Commodity Research and Analysis Section, Commodities Branch, Division on International Trade and Commodities, UNCTAD
- Prof. Thorvaldur Gylfason, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Iceland
- Dr. Fuad Hasanov, Senior Economist, IMF
- Dr. Steffen Hertog, Associate Professor in Comparative Politics in the Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science
- Prof. Bernard Hoekman, Professor and Director, Global Economics at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute.
- Dr. Martin Hvidt, Associate Professor, Department of Culture and Language, Center for Modern Middle East and Muslim studies, University of Southern Denmark
- Dr. Jean M Imbs, Professor of Economics, New York University Abu Dhabi
- Dr. Ken Miyajima, Economist , IMF
- Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Executive Director, Arab States and Maldives, IMF
- Dr. Nasser Saidi, Founder and President of Nasser Saidi & Associates
- Dr. Zainab Usman, Senior Fellow and Director of Africa Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Dr. Rick Van Der Ploeg, Research Director, Oxford Centre for Analysis of Resource Rich Economies
- Dr. Karen Young, Senior Research Scholar, Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy
Contact
For questions related to submission, selection process and the Economic Diversification series/conference, please email:
Conference Organizing Committee
Conference Chairs:
– Dr. Fadi Salem, Director of Policy Research, MBRSG
– Keertana Subramani, Research Associate, MBRSG
Organizing Chair:
– Eiman Al Marzooqi, Research Projects Manager, MBRSG
Conference Proceedings Editors:
– Keertana Subramani, Research Associate, MBRSG
– Dr. Hamid Saeed, Library & Knowledge Support Manager, MBRSG
– Dr. Fadi Salem, Director of Policy Research, MBRSG
About the EDI
Despite economic diversification being an essential economic goal for countries around the globe as well as a widely studied topic in both the policy and academic worlds, there is no agreed upon universal measure of economic diversification. Policy discourse and research on economic diversification is often limited to the trade structure of a nation, linking the vulnerability of a nation to external shocks with a ripple effect on its economic growth and development. Empirical evidence focuses on the strong linkage between trade diversification, export-led growth and total GDP and/or per capita income of countries. While trade diversification is an important indicator of economic diversification, equally important are production and government revenue diversification. This realization triggered the development of the Global Economic Diversification Index (EDI), a global dataset and systematic method of measuring economic diversification.
In early 2022, the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG) published the first edition of the EDI at the World Government Summit. The EDI is built on a cross-country, time series empirical analysis, allowing for a historical analysis of the evolution and extent of economic diversification across countries. Such an analysis represents a building block for further work to understand the macro-economic shifts, policy adjustments and strategic changes that allowed countries to either successfully diversify or, on the contrary, be held back in their path to diversification.
The inaugural edition of the EDI was based on the analysis of data from 83 countries, covering economies from all regions of the globe, income levels, and resource wealth/dependency. In 2023, the second edition of the Global EDI expanded the scope of coverage and analysis to include more than 100 countries. The third edition of the EDI has been published in 2024, with even further expanded coverage of 112 countries and thematic analysis focusing on the impact of digital trade on diversification.
As such, the EDI aims to fill the gap in the existing literature, data and empirical analysis: it represents a significant innovation and important addition to the analysis, discussion and policy efforts related to economic diversification. Furthermore, as a composite indicator, the EDI looks beyond trade to also include production/output and government revenue diversification, as the three dimensions forming the basis of the index. By design, the EDI is designed as rigorous ‘reproducible research’ and is solely based on publicly available data from reputable sources, following a methodology peer-reviewed by a panel of international experts. In order to ensure highest levels of methodological rigor, data validity, robustness, inclusiveness, acceptance and impact on policy discourses, the MBRSG has conducted peer and expert reviews at different stages of the EDI’s construction.
The full EDI datasets and analysis are made available openly for researchers, scholars, policymakers, and the global practitioners’ community to support global efforts that address economic diversification questions and developmental pathways. Based on that global dataset, the authors and the MBR School of Government invite the global community to further expand the research and analysis around economic diversification and develop thematic, regional or country-specific analysis, research, publications and policy outcomes.