ABSTRACT
The Arab countries present a wide and diversified spectrum, both geographically and economically, apart from political, institutional and social aspects. This chapter discusses the overall regional and individual national industrial structures and activities of Arab countries. The chapter analyses prevailing and potential industrial trends, and set the stage for the investigation of optional concepts and strategies of industrialisation and integration. Arab countries have registered significant success in domestic handicrafts and some of them even in scattered modern industrial attempts. The infancy of industry in the Arab countries is also highlighted by its asymmetric location, with 70 per cent concentrated in four countries: Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Algeria, and 30 per cent only in more than ten other countries. The Arab countries consider Israel not only as a military but also as an industrial power, which should be counter-balanced by rapid Arab industrialisation. The creation of an all-Arab data bank must precede any serious attempt at the implementation of Arab integration.
