Overview of technology transfer in the manufacturing industries in the Arab countries: The case of UAE and Sudan

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to examine the channels and effects oftechnology transfer in industrial manufacturing firms in the Arabregion, with particular reference to the UAE and Sudan.Methodology This paper uses descriptive and comparative approaches andutilises the definition of technology transfer often found in theinternational literature to examine the channels and effects oftechnology transfer in industrial manufacturing firms in the Arabregion. An examination of the industrial manufacturing firms in the UAEand Sudan is mostly based on primary data collected from the firmsurveys in the UAE (2002) and Sudan (2010).Findings The findings support the first hypothesis that industrialmanufacturing firms in the Arab region use several channels oftechnology transfer. Our results corroborate the second hypothesis thatthe channels of technology transfer and their respective effects varyenormously across firms according to firm size and industry level in theindustrial manufacturing firms in the Arab region. Our findings supportthe third hypotheses that technology transfer creates important positiveeffects in industrial manufacturing firms in the Arab region.Originality/value This paper is valuable because it fills the gap in theArab literature by presenting a more comprehensive, focused andcomparative analysis and investigating the channels and effects oftechnology transfer in industrial manufacturing firms in the UAE andSudan, based on the firm surveys in the UAE (2002) and Sudan (2010),since these issues are not adequately discussed in the Arab literature.Moreover, the paper supports the efforts aimed at enhancing the positiveeffects of technology transfer for both building the absorptive capacityand building knowledge-based economies in the Arab region. The findingsimply that it is essential for the Arab region to support the absorptivecapacity in order to utilise the effects of technology transfer to boostindustrial firms and to achieve sustainable economic development in theUAE, Sudan and the Arab region.