Analysis on stability of trade patterns for the selected countries in Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

The stability of trade patterns may cause economic stability inside the country and increase competitive power at international trade for any country. Therefore, in this article was investigated the trade patterns of selected MENA countries have been identified in three sectors of agriculture, industry and mines, and energy by the aid of calculation of some indices such as Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA). The needed data and information were collected from World Bank website for calculation of the given indices in form of panel data during years 2000- 2014 for three sectors including agriculture, industry and mine and energy. The results showed that the trade pattern for the aforesaid countries has been sustainable in agriculture and energy sectors for long run. However, trade pattern was variable for short-term and Specialization level has been reduced in these countries in terms of trade. In these conditions, governments can contribute to the sustainability of their business models with determining exported goods that have an advantage in different sectors and provide better conditions for trade their goods. Iran due to having active labor force and various advantages in different sectors among MENA countries could provide favorable conditions for itself. Therefore, many studies need to be done in this area to define trade positioning and increase competition power in the region and the globe.