ABSTRACT
One major characteristic of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region economies is the large size of the state-owned enterprise (SOE) sector. Compared with other regions, except former communist countries, it is striking how pervasive has been the role of the SOE sector in most countries of the region. This characteristic has significant implications both for SOE sector reform itself and for the overall process of reform since powerful interactions exist between them. The interactions are complex, they are often strong and sometimes decisive for the success of the programme. Very often the interactions go both ways between overall reform and SOE sector reform.
