RESEARCH

SOUQ ECONOMICS - CENTER FOR ECONOMICS RESEARCH

ABOUT SOUQ ECONOMICS

Souq Economics aims to create a platform where researchers from across the world can come together to disseminate their research as well as collaborate with one another to create new research. SE also envisions itself as a bridge between researchers in economics and policy-makers, resulting in the betterment of society.

Souq Economics hopes to bring together research and researchers from across the world for the advancement of economics as a discipline. The research that will be of particular interest to the SE will be evidence-based research in a variety of areas including, but not limited to, the problems which stare the world in its face currently. Some of this research will be carried out in-house but SE will also provide a platform for researchers anywhere in the world.

The Souq will also bring on board policy makers and policy researchers to create a dialogue which will enhance policy effectiveness. Economics has always been open to collaborations across disciplines, be it politics, sociology or history, to name but a few. The SE hopes to carry this tradition forward and create a platform where various disciplines intersect. Apart from being a catalyst for generating research, it hopes to bring cutting edge research in economic and allied disciplines within easy grasp of all those who are interested in the subject.

Souq Economics proposes to develop and disseminate research in economics among the community in which it is located and also beyond. It intends to be an interface between researchers, policy makers and the public at large. Among the public, it will focus particular attention on those entering or hoping to enter the field of economics. New and existing students of economics will be a significant part of the intended audience. The SE hopes that it will be able to kindle a passion for economics among these new entrants to the field, a passion that has motivated researchers in economics around the world.

Head of Souq Economics
Professor Ajit Karnik

[email protected]

The Background

Souq in Arabic means marketplace. Souq Economics (SE) views itself as a marketplace for the exchange of ideas in economics. The subject of economics has been evolving in response to challenges faced by countries of the world. The previous century saw the evolution of Keynesian economics as a way of managing floundering economies, an approach that gave way to more market-oriented approaches a few decades later. Two episodes of this century have similarly challenged economics. The first, the Great Recession of 2008, was sufficiently widespread and devastating to invite comparison with the Great Depression of the previous century. The discipline responded to this challenge with deep introspection at the way economics was taught and researched. The second episode, namely, the ravages wrought by the COVID pandemic, has upended most economies of the world and many are still struggling to recover from it. In response to this second challenge, economics has focused on policy prescriptions to alleviate the suffering faced by millions of individuals across the world. Research in economics, however, does not emerge only in response to specific events. Contemporary as well as long-standing problems continue to guide research in areas such as political economy, inequality, climate change, poverty, globalization, economic history, gender economics, institutional economics and public policy among others.

ADVISORY BOARD

Professor Cedwyn Fernandes PhD

Pro-Vice Chancellor, Director

Professor Sheilagh Ogilvie

Chichele Professor of Economic History, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Professor Errol D’Souza

Professor of Economics and Director, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India

Dr Jeremy Edwards

Emeritus Reader in Economics, Faculty of Economics, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK

Dr Shubhada Rao

Founder Quanteco, Mumbai, India

Chandrahas Deshpande

Professor of Economics, Welingkar Institute of Management, Mumbai, India

OUR CORE TEAM

Professor Ajit Karnik PhD

Professor of Economics

Professor Cody Morris Paris PhD

Deputy Director of Research & Business, Head of the Business School

Dr Pallavi Kishore SFHEA FCCA UAECA

Head of Accounting and Finance, Campus Programme Coordinator - Undergraduate and Postgraduate Accounting and Finance, Senior Lecturer

Dr Sreejith Balasubramanian FHEA

Associate Professor, Chair, Office of Research, Head & Founder: Centre for Supply Chain Excellence

Mariam Aslam MSc FHEA

Senior Lecturer, Campus Programme Coordinator - MBA

RESEARCH AREAS

Research areas that are of interest to the Souq are listed below but this list is by no means exhaustive:

Climate change
Covid and its impact
Economic history
Economics of development
Financial economics
Gender economics
Globalization

Inequality
Institutional economics
Political economy
Political economy
Poverty
Public policy

MDX Dubai hosts SCLG Roundtable on ‘Understanding Dubai’s 2033 Strategy’

In January, this year His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the Dubai Economic Agenda ‘D33’ with the ambitious goal of doubling the size of Dubai's economy over the next decade. In order to have a better understanding of the 2033 strategy, the Supply Chain and Logistics Group (SCLG) organised a Roundtable on ‘Understanding Dubai’s 2033 Strategy’ at Middlesex University Dubai’s Dubai Knowledge Park campus on 1 March 2023.

Dr. Cedwyn Fernandes, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Middlesex University and Director of Middlesex University Dubai, an economist by discipline, outlined the components of Gross Domestic Product and how the D33 plan addresses each of these towards achieving its goal of doubling of Dubai’s economy.

Dr. Cedwyn noted that though economic growth is possible with the increasing use of labour and capital, the key to long-term sustained growth is technological progress. The D33 initiative addresses this by introducing policies and incentives to make Dubai a major innovation hub and attract some of the world’s best universities.

Mr. Rishikesh Trivedi, Founder MarketMate & Enabler ONE, spoke on leveraging Sandbox Dubai for global expansion. He elaborated that the purpose of the Sandbox Dubai initiative was to transform Dubai from a trading port to an innovation hub, provide an entrepreneurial ecosystem, and enable a controlled environment to test and launch new products, services, and business models.

D33 aims to double Foreign Trade to AED 25.6 trillion by 2033. Mr. H.C. Barke, President & CEO of Prudence Insurance Brokers LLC, highlighted the critical role of Risk Collateralised Trade Finance supported by trade credit and political risks insurance solutions. He elaborated on the benefits of credit insurance solutions to best manage trade risks and promote business growth, and the importance of Dubai fostering a trade-conducive banking infrastructure supporting corporate growth, especially that of SMEs, through a spectrum of innovative trade finance solutions suchas factoring, supply chain finance, and securitisation.

Mr. Waqi Munim, Founder of strategy consultancy Courageous Minds, highlighted the exponential growth of Dubai's economy since 2000, along with how Dubai is developing as a world-class city for innovation and living. Waqi also looked at the D33 plan from a strategic perspective of 'Where to play' and 'How to win' choices. For example, the choices of 'where to play' include new export markets, developing a high technology hub, and innovation leadership. The choices to win include

New export markets, such as: adding 400 cities to Dubai's foreign trade map and creating an economic corridor to Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa.
High Tech Industrial Hub: Identify 400 high-potential SMEs and scale-up 30 companies to global unicorns
Innovation Leadership: Plan for green and sustainable manufacturing; Top talent development via the world's best universities; Integrating 65,000 Emiratis into the job market

Waqi went on to state that the D33 vision is exciting and achievable, and we all must play a role in Dubai's success.

Headquartered in Dubai, UAE, the Supply Chain & Logistics Group (SCLG) is an industry business group with over 400 corporate organisations and 40,000 members engaged in advancing supply chain and logistics industry locally, regionally and globally. Ms. Kanchan Vora, Director of SCLG, said that the feedback from its roundtables are compiled, analysed and presented as a recommendation to policymakers, SCLG members and industry.

D33 provides the blueprint for exponential economic growth for Dubai over the next decade. The plan is ambitious but Dubai has a track record of making the impossible, possible.

MDX Dubai Research Centres partner to host Symposium on Cross-cutting Issues in Economics, Climate Change, and Supply Chain

On 12th January 2022, Middlesex University Dubai’s Souq Economics – Centre for Economics Research and Centre for Supply Chain Excellence successfully hosted a joint symposium tackling “Cross-Cutting Issues on Economics, Climate Change, and Supply Chain”. The event attracted over 175 delegates from around the world, including presenters and speakers from the UAE, US, UK, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia.

The symposium provided a timely venue for practitioners and academics to engage in a meaningful discourse on issues shaping the post-pandemic world, including economic growth conditions, the ongoing disruption of supply chains, inflationary risks, and capabilities of governments in navigating these issues.

Participants benefitted from high-profile keynote addresses from Professor Sheilagh Ogilvie, Chichele Professor of Economic History, University of Oxford on ‘State Capacity and Economic Growth: Cautionary Tales', and Professor Errol D'Souza, Professor of Economics & Director, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad on 'COVID-19, resilience, & economic growth'. The symposium also featured several invited research papers and industry presentations from internationally renowned researchers and practitioners from economics, supply chain and logistics, sustainability and climate change.

Topics and presentations included:

'The Future of Food: Responsible and Sustainable Consumption' by Dr. Min Teah, Associate Professor & Dean, Research, Curtin University Australia
'Sustainability and Global value Chains with respect to Regional Integration' by Ms. Sanchita Chatterjee, Senior Trade Policy Expert - India and Thailand
'Beyond Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities for Supply Chain Resilience in the Era of Climate Change' by Rana Hajirasouli, COO, Cyrus Group of Companies

The symposium wrapped up with an excellent and stimulating panel session on contemporary supply chain and socio-economic issues hosted by Middlesex University Dubai School of Business faculty Dr. Supriya Kaitheri and Rory McConnon. The panel members were seen communicating their ideas while securing a meaningful discussion with other panelists from to address the increasingly complex global and local supply chain challenges in a sustainable manner.

Speaking on the success of the event, Dr Cedwyn Fernandes, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Middlesex University and Director of Middlesex University Dubai said: “I have been immensely impressed by the range and standard of presentations and the profile of the speakers from across the world. I want to thank Professor Ajit Karnik, Dr Sreejith Balasubramanian and all the members of the Organising Committee for putting together a fantastic programme.”

Commenting on the success of the symposium, Professor Ajit Karnik, Professor of Economics at Middlesex University Dubai and Organising Committee member said: “The Symposium brought together a galaxy of high profile researchers from across the world who presented the delegates a virtual feast of research output and ideas”.

Dr Sreejith Balasubramanian, Head & Founder – Centre for Supply Chain Excellence and Organising Committee member, said: “The symposium received excellent feedback from the delegates and was able to extend the dialogue towards shaping the post-pandemic world and discuss economic growth conditions that mitigate climate change.”

About the Research Centres

Souq Economics - Center for Economics Research aims to ether research and researchers from across the world for the advancement of economics as a discipline, and act as a bridge between researchers in economics and policy-makers, resulting in the betterment of society.

https://www.mdx.ac.ae/souq-economics-center-for-economics-research

The Centre for Supply Chain Excellence is dedicated to promoting supply chain excellence in education, research, and practice through collaboration with academics, industry partners, government entities, and other research institutes.

https://www.mdx.ac.ae/centre-for-supply-chain

Economic Insights

This section will publish occasional notes/short articles on topics which are of interest to Souq Economics. This will include articles on topics of current interest or topics relevant to the UAE or topics of general economic interest.

UAE: The preferred destination for Foreign Direct Investments

Authors: Dr Pallavi Kishore and Prof. Ajit Karnik

Abstract: The recent UNCTAD World Investment Report shows that the UAE has emerged as a global magnet for foreign direct investment (FDI). This performance of the UAE is especially commendable given its small size in terms of its population and its aggregate GDP. This note identifies the factors that have led to the UAE’s success in attracting FDI. Some of these factors are its location, political stability, infrastructure, economic diversification and quality of life. The large inflows of FDI clearly represent a vote of confidence in the UAE as a favourable destination for foreign investments.

Click here to access the article

Doubling of Dubai’s Economy in a Decade: D33 provides a Realistic Blueprint

Authors: Prof. Cedwyn Fernandes, Economist, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Middlesex University and Director of Middlesex University Dubai

Abstract: The ambitious Dubai Economic Agenda ‘D33’, which aims to double the size of Dubai’s economy over the next decade, is a bold target. It is planned that this target will be achieved through an extensive range of strategic initiatives and policies that collectively aim to cement the emirate’s position as a global business and financial hub. In the words of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum: “One must take advantage of available opportunities, and opportunities will only be well seized by those who are waiting for them. If you challenge a goal you will be able to achieve it.”