Katarzyna Czupa
Towards a Sustainable Growth – An Analysis of Small and Medium Enterprises’ Performance in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries [View PDF]
ABSTRACT
On the surface, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states are one of the most developed countries in the world. Income coming from these countries’ vast reserves of oil and gas helped to realize most of the infrastructure projects as well as investments within the healthcare and education sectors. Nevertheless, this model cannot last forever, as it is unsustainable because that natural resources are limited. The aim of this article is to analyse the structure of the GCC companies’ ownership, their performance and contribution to GDP so as to examine patterns shaping particular economies. It describes the business environment in the region paying special attention to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which in the West are deemed to be the cornerstone of a truly sustainable economy. It points main obstacles towards enterprises development and discusses economic policies of the Gulf States in order to propose the best solutions facilitating SMEs’ operations, especially in the field of finance.
Keywords: Small and medium enterprises, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Middle East, development, economy, business environment