Regionalism matters for recovery

one of the most interesting – and surprising – phenomena exacerbated by the pandemic is a renewal in regional organizations’ desire to be proactive – with a big well documented caveat that is the eu – from asean, which at least on the communication side was quick to respond, through the West african regional Bloc (ecowas), which chose collective action to address the crisis and related implications on the social and educational levels, to the south asian association for regional Cooperation (saarC), which has not meet since 2014 but became important enough for the Indian prime minister to inject $10m. in one of the most economically challenging times for India. a by-product of this, is the creation of ad-hoc multilateral cooperation like the one led by austria with other small countries that contained the epidemic, to discuss travel ties for tourism and businesses.

this opens up a range of new opportunities for economic recovery – opening new markets and areas of cooperation post-pandemic, including investment, knowledge sharing and establishment of new supply chains – for states and businesses alike.

It is presumptuous to call these spikes in regional structures a trend, however the regional structures are likely to be key to deal with the post-pandemic recovery and long-term implications. If the pandemic was mainly dealt with on a national level, recovery will depend on the capability of states to cooperate around areas of national interests. Countries that only thought about national security and resilience in terms of defense, security and politics, will revisit their national interests. they will have to shift some of their production closer to home; offer new training in priority areas; establish technological ecosystems and generally strengthening national resilience by reducing external dependency. hence the big advantage of regional structures, and therein lie the opportunities.

In the middle east, a region with very limited regionalism, this poses a real challenge. the next 18-24 months will focus on economic investments, knowledge development and sharing, exports and unemployment. Countries will have to refine their competitive advantage and be very strategic about their investments.

the middle east is an old region with relatively new countries and economies, mostly based on natural resources. But looking at 2030 economic visions and plans, those of saudi arabia, dubai, abu dhabi or Bahrain for example, we clearly see the importance of diversifying the economy, moving away from oil dependency and building a resilient society. this will become an imperative now. In this context, the only relevant regional economic and regional structure that can sustain this effort today is the GCC.

and this is also were Israel comes in. While unemployment and an economic crisis is looming – like everywhere else – the hi-tech ecosystem, including health, r&d, scientific research and higher education put the country in a good position to navigate national needs while answering global challenges and demands. In general, knowledge-based economies will have an advantage. relations between Israel and the Gulf states developed around the common threat that is Iran, but it allowed for some room for initiatives and knowledge exchange on the civil and business levels as well. understanding regional needs and priorities, as outlined by GCC states economic plans – which will probably be recalibrated in the coming weeks and months – is a regional necessity.

We can already see that the Gulf countries are focusing on national at the expense of expatriates, including highskill ones. Israel and the GCC should act on those priorities, knowledge exchange, creating viable tech ecosystem that includes the triumvirate of research organizations and universities, funding bodies and corporations - as much as the lack of an Israeli-palestinian peace process allows – in order to shape the region’s economic and social developments in the near future. the GCC is business and investment oriented. so is the Israeli tech ecosystem. With one advantage – its agility. time to put those skills to work in a more structured manner – through knowledge forums, VCs, online learning and leadership development. this will give the region, the Gulf to start – with ripple effect – a much needed boost, on which post coronavirus recovery depends on.

The writer is head of the Diplomacy 2030 Program at the Abba Eban Institute for International Diplomacy at IDC Herzliya