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This chapter aims to discuss the challenges facing these countries building productive capacity for development. This chapter makes use of data published by international organizations as indicators for measuring the state of development in the Arab region. Several indicators are presented to compare Arab countries with other world regions. The use of data identifies some of the gaps that countries in the Arab region need to close to strengthen capacity building for development and fostering economic growth. The findings from the data presented reveal that the productive structure in most Arab countries remains weak to generate production linkages and provide incentives for investment in nonenergy sectors. The failure of the export-led growth model to diversify output and promote development in energy producing countries has increased the dependence of these countries on global trade. Fluctuations in commodity prices and uncertainty about global demand for energy have influenced the ability of the state to construct strategies for rapid transformation. Except for the energy sector, the productivity of nonoil sectors remains low reflecting inadequate incentives and ineffective entrepreneurial capabilities. The study examines the challenges for building productive capacity in the Arab world. It illustrates the failure of the led-export model and its inability to prompted economic diversification, especially in the Gulf countries. The study contributes to the literature on capacity building in the Arab world so that to encourage researchers and students of development conducting studies concerning the main development challenges facing these countries.

The primary goal of university education globally is to promote research, knowledge, and innovations instrumental for national development and societal transformation. In line with this goal, East African countries, namely Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania have invested heavily in university education in the last 60 years since independence. The evidence of this is the increasing number of both private and public universities, and the number of students joining the institutions. While the expansion of university education is to be celebrated, it should not be taken for granted that this expansion indicates development. The purpose of this research was to assess the impact of university education on regional development in the three East African countries, that is, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Data were collected through historical analyses, database searches on electronic and printed sources, and interviews. The study found out that the three African countries have formulated the goals of education toward the achievement of development and that large budgets have been committed to educational expansion in the university in recent years. However, the impact of the universities in the development of the region expected through research and innovation is minimal because of major challenges that include expansion of access without adequate government funding; compromises quality; graduate unemployability and political interference; students’ unrest and strikes; weaknesses in earlier levels of education; regional, gender, and class inequalities; and misalignment of education, development, and contextual strengths. Proposed future strategies included the calls for governments to enhance regional consultations on development and education, the need for specialization in programs rather than duplication, enhancement of international collaborations and networking, rethinking the role of education in development within given contextual and environmental realities, and good governance and adequate funding of education.

Human development encompasses not only income, other factors of life such as education and health are equally important. Investments in education and health positively impact the development of any region. Therefore, development in general and human development in particular of a region highlights not only the application of income but also the (actual) living conditions of people. It should also focus on the living conditions of women. This can somehow be assessed by looking at the Gender Development Index (GDI), introduced by the UNDP in 1995 as the intital Human Development Index (HDI) did not address gender-related issues. The present study thus tries to examine gender inequality in terms of education and health in the North Bengal region as it can have adverse effects on the overall development in the region. The study relies on the available secondary data on education and health. It is imperative that we realize the need to narrow the gender gap for development to be inclusive as investing in women's education and health can contribute to holistic economic growth and development.

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 goals to address the world’s most pressing sustainable development (SD) concerns by 2030. Third-world countries have a lesser global environmental impact than developed countries, and account for 66% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Infrastructure development has a key role to play in establishing a green society, with approaches such as green policy, sustainable monitoring, and sustainability reports. Indirect and induced sustainable infrastructure development (SID) dominates the SDGs, with the goal of providing secure, acceptable, readily available, and efficient transportation networks by 2030. Road infrastructure development (RID) should become more sustainable considering depleting natural resources, fragile ecological circumstances, and limited financial resources. Sustainable road infrastructure projects (SRIPs) provide several advantages, such as increased economic efficiency, lower resource utilization, greater social well-being, and enhanced protection of natural services. However, incorporating SD prerequisites into highway infrastructure projects in developing countries has been difficult due to a variety of factors. Efforts to develop sustainability certification standards for infrastructure systems are recommended, and it is important to define relevant ideas and principles for SRIP implementation. However, incorporating SD prerequisites into highway infrastructure projects in developing countries has been difficult due to a variety of factors. Different people have varied ideas about sustainability. This book aims to provide a unified guideline to aid developing nations in undertaking SRIPs and to develop a SRIP implementation model. This chapter provided a background for the book; it also provided insight into its organization, foundation, and significance. It also discusses the objectives of the book and emphasized on the purpose and motivation for writing the book.

In recent years, both academics and institutions have acknowledged the crucial role multinational enterprises (MNEs) can play in addressing the sustainability challenges, as formalized by the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Nevertheless, because of their extensiveness and their design as country-level targets, SDGs have proven challenging to operationalize at a firm level. This problem opens new and relevant avenues for research in international business (IB). This chapter attempts to frame the topic of extended value chain sustainability in the IB literature. In particular, it addresses a specific topic, that is, how sustainability and resilience-building practices interact in global value chains (GVCs). To do so, the present study develops the case of STMicroelectronics (ST), one of the biggest semiconductor companies worldwide.

Building industrial clusters is getting much more political attention and strategic orientation in all developing countries. This study started by revising the conceptual and theoretical frameworks for industrial clusters, followed by some insights and contributions about empirical bases for clusters' dynamics and processes. The study focused on the case of Agadir Agreement between four Arab countries (Egypt, Jordon, Morocco, and Tunisia), which was initiated after the Euro-Mediterranean partnerships, and the rationale of the agreement was based on the concept of cumulative value-added origin. The study based its methodology on analyzing the international and bilateral trade flows of six industrial goods from the automotive sector among the four countries and with the EU countries to detect the degree of industrial collaboration and the achieved success of each country in this sector. The study indicated that the four countries used the concept of industrial clusters for economic development, but the results of the analysis showed that till now Agadir Agreement only achieved a shallow integration, while failed to deeply integrate as one big collaborative industrial cluster.