The international spring/summer conference of Middle East Economic Association member economists studying on Middle Eastern economies will be held on 24-26 June 2010.

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ANKARA- The ninth conference of the Middle East Economic Association- MEEA, members of which are academic economists throughout the world studying on Middle Eastern economies is convened in Istanbul.

The conference organized in cooperation with ITU (Istanbul Technical University) will be opened on June 24, 2010. Following the welcome addresses by Prof. Dr. Öner Guncavdi, Dean, Faculty of Management-ITU, and Prof. Dr. Muhammed Sahin, Rector, ITU, MEEA President Prof. Dr. Serdar Sayan, TOBB University of Economics and Technology, will deliver a speech. Sayan was elected to the office last year and is the first President of the Association not resident in the USA.

Opening speech of the plenary session will be delivered by Ibrahim Turan, Vice Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. Keynote speaker Prof. Dr. Timur Kuran, famous historical economist from Duke University will make a speech with the title: 'Institutional Roots of Economic Underdevelopment in the Middle East'.  The keynote speech of the reception to be held on June 24 is Ulrich Zachau, World Bank Country Director for Turkey.

Prof. Kuran is one of the most famous experts on the economic history of the Middle East. The paper by Timur Kuran, who concentrates on the evolution of institutions and social change in his studies, will discuss the reasons for the economic underdevelopment of the region in general and the underdevelopment in various aspects including organizational efficiency, technologic innovativeness and commercial competitiveness putting a special emphasis on the contributions by institutional factors such as Islamic law and waqf establishments  (Attached please see the abstract of the paper and a detailed resume of Mr. Kuran).

In the conference composed of 30 concurrent sessions of 3-5 papers a number of issues including the restructuring of Iraq, monetary union discussions across oil-rich Gulf countries, growth and youth unemployment problems of the Middle Eastern countries, the results of low labor force participation rate across women, the impacts of the crisis,  exchange rate and interest rate movements, the relationship between industrialization and environment, and the effect of the fluctuations in oil prices to stocks markets of the region. Full text of the program and detailed information on the conference can be accessed from the following link: http://www.meea2010.org

OPENING PROGRAM

24 JUNE, 2010, THURSDAY

ITU, Macka Campus

08:3O-9:00    REGISTRATION

09:00-09:30   WELCOME ADDRESS

PROF. ÖNER GÜNÇAVDI
(DEAN, FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT-ITU)

PROF. MUHAMMED ŞAHİN
(RECTOR, ISTANBUL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY)

PROF. SERDAR SAYAN
(PRESIDENT, MIDDLE EAST ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION)

09:30-10:00   PLENARY SESSION

DR. M. İBRAHİM TURHAN
(VICE GOVERNOR, CENTRAL BANK OF THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY)

10:00-11:00   KEYNOTE SPEECH

PROF. TİMUR KURAN
(DUKE UNIVERSITY)
"INSTITUTIONAL ROOTS OF ECONOMIC UNDERDEVELOPMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST "(*)

(*) Sponsored by TEPAV