the 1970s, the Middle East became a heavily integrated region in terms of economic growth and employment. The increase in the export of oil by the major oil-exporting countries in the Middle East led to a mass influx of foreign workers from Arab and Asian countries. Towards the end of the 1980s the growth began to stop as the price of oil fell in an increasingly competitive global market. As a result, countries such as Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan began to implement economic reforms during the mid-1980s. Soon after, most countries within the region had implemented some form of economic stabilisation policy. During the 1990s the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar) were becoming increasingly vulnerable to oil-price volatility. Religious issues For many Middle Eastern countries religion is heavily integrated into economic policy and has proved to be a major obstacle to effective economic reform. Religious instability in the region deters foreign investment and global economic integration. Political transparency has also proven to be a deterrence to economic development. Since the quality of institutions and governance are important factors in stimulating growth, economic reform in the Middle East may not be complete if religious reform is not suggested or implemented simultaneously. The political instability and continuous regional conflict (such as the Palestine–Israel conflict) prevents the region from achieving its highest potential as it consistently faces humanitarian crises that affect development indicators such as life expectancy and infant mortality rate. Integration into the global economy Another common issue that the region has addressed in economic and policy reforms is the integration of the Middle East into the global economy. Reports of economic reform in the Middle East in the early 2000s called for massive reforms to improve the Middle East's global financial integration as it stood below most developed regions. Such reports also called for a reform of the trade sector and agreements that had prevented most trade (other than oil exports). Noting trade openness as "a significant contributor to higher productivity per capita income growth", several countries in the Middle East have accomplished the common goal of trade reform and openness. Reforms in new age of the Middle East Subsidy Reform History of price subsidies in the Middle East A common issue within Middle Eastern economies is the use of subsidies, of which energy subsidies account for the most. These price