Arab scientists and decision makers attending the World Science Forum in Budapest, Hungary, on 8-10 November, expressed their disappointment
at expenditure on research and development (R&D) in the Arab world, which averages only 0.2 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP),
compared to the world average of 1.7 percent.
"The combined sum of Arab expenditure on R&D, education and health is less than Arab military expenditure," said Adnan Badran,
former Prime Minister of Jordan told conference participants.
According to Badran, the role of private sector investment in Arab R&D is also minimal, forming only three percent of total Arab
expenditure, with universities and the government sector providing the remaining 27 percent and 70 percent respectively. This is
compared to 70 percent private sector investment in R&D in OECD countries.
"Decision makers in the Arab world are not convinced that science and technology (S&T) should be a priority," Badran told IslamOnline.net.
Badran believes the main reason for this is that Arab decision-makers are short-sighted while investing in S&T is a long-term
endeavor. "They want effect for popularity and to impress the people they rule," explained Badran. But government R&D expenditure
doesn't produce immediate results that are clearly reflected on annual budgets, he said. "This is why we are falling behind other
countries." Speakers at the World Science Forum agreed that the majority of Arab R&D expenditure (70 – 80 percent according to
one estimate) was directed toward employee salaries resulting in only minimal actual funding of research itself.
Signs of Hope
But although Arab expenditure on R&D does fall far behind world averages, there are signs that things are improving. Dr. Hossam Badrawi,
an Egyptian parliamentarian speaking at the Forum, said that Egyptian expenditure on R&D, for example, had increased from 0.3 percent of
the GDP in 1981/1982 to almost one percent in 2006/2007, reaching a total of 4.6 billion Egyptian pounds. Badrawi indicated, however, that
even though expenditure trends for R&D in Egypt were improving, they still fell far behind government expenditure on other sectors. For example,
government subsidies on petroleum gas were a whopping 13 times higher and subsidies on bread were four times higher than total government
expenditures on S&T. "Constituencies are looking for the basic needs of the people," Badrawi explained.
Arab researchers have long complained about limited access to funding from oil-rich Gulf countries.
"There’s a dichotomy [in the Arab world]," Moneef Zou’bi, Director General of the Islamic World Academy of Sciences, told IslamOnline.net.
"We have countries that have the material and financial resources but lack the S&T and higher education capacity to utilize this S&T know-how.
Then we have countries with enormous capacity for S&T endeavors, such as Egypt which is a regional leader in terms of human resources and
publications, that lack the financial resources to enhance their S&T sector," he explained. "We really need the political will to match
the human resources to the financial resources that are available to the region so a more rejuvenated effort can commence to enhance S&T
in the Arab world," he said. Nevertheless, a thread of optimism was also expressed by Arab speakers.
Some hope exists that science parks developing in several Gulf countries have the potential to vitalize Arab S&T. Saudi Arabia, Qatar,
Kuwait, and the Emirates have all been involved in setting up such parks, including some focusing on the biotech industry. But critics
argue that most of these parks are based on importing the technologies, the human resources, and even the trademarks from non-Arab
countries. "They are providing only a physical setup," said Badran. "So it’s not really an indigenous science park to build self-reliance
and a sustainable economy where you invent the future," he said. Badran, Jordan’s former prime minister who is currently a Jordanian
senator and also president of Petra University, has just returned from attending the announcement of the launch of a US$ 10 billion
endowment by the United Arab Emirates’ Vice President and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum that will be directed
towards investing in education and knowledge development in the region.
"This is a light you can see in the dark tunnel and I hope it works," said Badran. "What we need is very good governance that results
in identifying our priorities and engaging in areas with a high multiplying effect like water, energy, and education. We need to deliver
creativity, innovators and entrepreneurs and get rid of our classical education system which is delivering numbers with no quality," he said.
Source: Nadia El-Alwady
Read the latest global figures on R&D (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, October 2007)
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