When you travel from country to country throughout the MENA region you don't fail to notice the great diversity and contrast between them. Morocco for example has a quite different cultural, economical and social structure than let's say Saudi Arabia. This is true of most MENA countries.
You might say that they share a common language: Arabic. Yet this is not exactly true. It is true that classical Arabic is common to all these countries as far as a written and as an official communication language is concerned. But the language that people use for dealing with one another orally has strong differentiated dialects from country to country. This is especially audible when comparing Moroccan dialect to that of let's say Oman. So can we really talk of a common MENA market?
In a way I think you can. In fact this common market is actually in the development process, especially within the last 20 or some odd years. The main driving forces for this are political and economical. There has been stronger economic ties between countries of the region. In fact many countries have seen an important shift in trade relationship from country to country. This is today mainly driven by GCC countries potential for investment. Today two-thirds of GCC's investment outside of their common market takes place within the MENA region. Many local companies and brands are now spreading throughout the region.
Furthermore, the current political changes taking place throughout the region due to the "Arab Spring" is a challenge mainly to the old nationalist regimes. The fire of revolution (or evolution) is been inspired across the border within the region, a sign of common aspirations and values. As many countries become more democratic, barriers between them will come down even further and trade exchange will increase as well.
So you can say that a strong common MENA market is in the making.
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