Economic Performance of Arabic Translation Industry in Arab Countries Dr. Najib Harabi Professor of Economics at the University of Applied Sciences, Northwestern Switzerland

Contents Introduction Objectives of the Study Methodology of the Study Major Results Recommendations

Introduction Motivation of the study: World Bank Project Importance of Translation for Development in Arab Countries: Toward a knowledge- based Economy and Society

Objectives Describe the economic performance of TI in 5 Arab Countries Understand major factors affecting economic performance of TI Recommendations for policy makers

Arabic Translation Activities Initiating of translating idea, including funding Act of translating Production of translated items (book, document etc.) Distribution of translated items Retail (sale)

Methodology First objective: Using existing data for estimating 3 indicators: GVA of TI as % of GDP Employment in TI as % of total employment Share of foreign trade in TI as % of total foreign trade

Methodology II Second Objective: Questionnaire-based survey 190 Interviews in 5 Arab Countries Survey Year: 2005

Methodological and Data Problems Common Definition of TI in all 5 countries Boundaries of TI Comparisons among countries and over time Availability of data in Arab Countries

Overall Results Economic contribution of TI to national income, job creation and foreign trade in the five countries is very small, if not negligible!! In qualitative terms, TI is very important to a knowledge-based economy and to international knowledge transfer into Arab economy and society.

Overall Results (2) TI is not only very small, its overall economic performance is also very poor in all Arab countries under consideration, except in Lebanon. So, what are the reasons for this poor performance?

Supply Conditions Lack of qualified translators Ambiguous status of translators Lack of capital investments Lack of sufficient and sustainable financing

Demand Conditions Small size and fragmented demand for translated books Characteristics of demand unknown: No systematic readership surveys No common Arab market

Related and supporting industries Role of upstream industries (printing, paper, ICT etc.): negative in Egypt and Saudi- Arabia Role of downstream industries (distribution, retail, advertising etc.): positive in Lebanon, Syria and Saudi-Arabia; negative in Egypt.

Corporate Strategy, market structure, and Rivalry Public and private translation strategies: both not optimal Public strategies driven by political priorities Private strategies: intuitive, risk-averse, conservative, reflecting bottlenecks of the TI

Recommendations TI offers a great POTENTIAL How to mobilize it? Improve the quality and availability of the generalized and special inputs.

(1) Policies affecting production factor conditions Improve the documentation of Arab translation needs Design and implement translation support programs on a sustainable basis Invest in human resources by building a strong training system for translators and related jobs  Support science and technology, for instance in the area of electronic publishing, e-commerce, machine translation software development etc,

Cont.  Create some sort of accreditation bodies for translators to control for good quality

(2) Policies affecting demand conditions Support readership surveys Stimulate early demand; Act as a sophisticated buyer in purchasing (ask for high quality of translated books); Promote translation quality assessment programs

(3) Policies affecting related and supporting industries Facilitate cluster development along the lines of the value chain of the book industry;  Promote training programs among professionals of TI in marketing and distribution; Improve distribution outlets; Promote the role of non-governmental professional publishing and translation associations.

(4) Policies affecting strategy, structure and rivalry: Promote local competition by deregulating the structure of industry and strictly enforcing antitrust policy and IPRs; Expand interregional (Arab) and international trade and investment by opening book markets, promoting exports and attracting appropriate foreign investment in those markets.

End! Thanks for your attention!