| Abstract: |
Knowledge has always been at the heart of economic growth and development. It
is disseminated chiefly through the different stages of education, R&D, the
mass media and the translation industry. In Arab countries there has been a
widespread impression that there is a low level of translation activities,
which in turn has led to a low output of the translation industry in those
countries. This paper addresses this issue; its overall objectives are (1) to
describe the economic performance of the Arabic book translation industry in
Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Syria; (2) to understand
empirically the economic performance of that industry, the focus here being on
qualitatively analyzing the major determinants (positive and negative factors)
affecting the growth process of that industry; and (3) to provide policy
makers and business leaders in the Arab region with theoretically sound and
evidence-based advice on the issues analyzed in the project. To provide an
empirical base for answering those questions, both published data and fresh
new data have been used. For the latter purpose, a questionnaire-based survey
was conducted in the year 2005 among 190 experts, covering firm
representatives and experts in industry and government. The Porter (Diamond)
model has been used as a theoretical background. The empirical results were
incorporated in five national case studies. This paper synthesizes the results
of the national reports, giving a comparative account of the performance of
the Arabic book translation industry in the five Arab countries. The overall
results suggest that the Arabic book translation industry in these Arab
countries has not yet achieved the level of development of other developing
and developed countries. Underperformance of the Arabic book translation
industry is attributable to (among other factors) severe coordination
failures. This is a state of affairs in which the inability of the different
agents (translators, book publishers, suppliers, customers, and supporting
organizations, state, and so forth) to coordinate their behavior (choices)
leads to suboptimal outcomes. Since the economic performance of the
translation industry often involves complementary investments whose return
depends on other investments being made by other agents, coordination is
crucial. Obviously, neither market forces nor the state have undertaken this
coordination activity sufficiently. The Arabic book translation industry seems
to suffer from both market failure and government failure. In light of these
results the Arabic book translation industry offers great economic potential
that should be mobilized systematically in the future. This paper discusses
how this can be achieved, based on a well-designed and implemented process of
upgrading and innovation in companies, industries, and clusters related to
translation activities. Public policy, properly understood and adequately
implemented, can play an important role in this process. To overcome, or at
least to mitigate, some of the major coordination failures in the Arabic
translation industry, it is necessary to select an existing pan-Arab
nongovernmental organization (NGO) or to create a new one, whose mission would
include two major groups of activities: The first action would involve the
coordination of activities on the supply side of the Arabic translation
industry. This group of activities would encompass the following: 1. Improving
the documentation of Arabic translation needs. This can be achieved by
creating a regional Internet-based database that would constitute an
information base on what has been translated, what is being translated, and
what will be translated from foreign languages into Arabic. 2. Designing and
implementing translation support programs (including providing financial
means) on a sustainable basis. This would create and maintain a critical mass
of translators and publishing companies. 3. Promoting translation quality
assessment programs. This would mitigate the widely known problem of poor
quality translation. 4. Designing and implementing training programs for
translators and publishing companies involved in the translation business.
This would increase the number of translators and improve the quality of
translation activities. 5. Promoting networks among writers, translators, and
publishers that facilitate contacts and create opportunities for new
translation projects. Such additional communication channels would spur new
project development. All these measures are intended to strengthen the supply
side of the translation industry in Arab countries. The second action would
involve the coordination of activities on the demand side of the Arabic
translation industry. The suggested NGO should support readership surveys and
promote reading programs. This can be done in collaboration with radio and
television stations, print media, schools and universities, and so forth.
These measures would help to identify the real needs of the reading public and
enhance the culture of reading, especially among young people. |