News updates

The Bader Group announced yesterday the launch of the second edition of its contest for emerging companies and youth entrepreneurs with financial support from Audi Bank.  The competition comprises an intensive training and counseling programme run by Lebanese business leaders who will act as coaches for the 12 competing candidates in the semi finals.  The coaches will provide technical support, an analysis of strengths and weaknesses, provision of necessary advice for overcoming possible obstacles whilst developing prototypes of their sustainable projects.  Only seven candidates will be selected for the finals and will be asked to present their projects to the jury who will select three winners based on their level of innovation, the chances of success of the project and its potential in creating new jobs.
The CEO of Audi Bank, Mark Audi, expressed his trust in the collaboration with Bader over the next 5 years.  He noted that this will increase the number of projects which will generate employments.  The President of Bader, Robert Fadel, wished the best to all the candidates in 2014.  He also expressed Bader’s pride to work with its partners in order to help exceptional entrepreneurs in increasing their chances to invest and succeed in their projects.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Nahar, Al-Safir 3 June 2014

As Safir newspaper published a report today on Akkar’s potato production which is facing harsh circumstances this year as a result of the latest frost wave which affected the harvest both in terms of quality and volume.  Other challenges include the availability of foreign potatoes notably from Egypt which some traders have imported in great quantities before the deadline asset in this year’s agricultural calendar and which was May 26th.  This affected growers in Akkar negatively at a time when they were looking forwarding to exporting this season’s harvest to Europe after securing a clean bill of health indicating that the Akkar potato is pest-free.
Within this framework, the Akkar potato farmers told As Safir that the state is not protecting them particularly to help them harvest in early April, a period during which import of potatoes should have been frozen when in reality these continue to submerge the Lebanese market.  Farmers insisted that they should be compensated for the losses they are having as a result of unfavorable climate and competition with foreign products.
The president of the cooperative association for potato growers in Akkar, Omar Hayek noted that there was a 30 to 40% loss in this season’s harvest which was initially expected to reach score 100,000 tons but  will not exceeded 70000 tons.  This quantity, according to Hayek, cannot be marketed locally and farmers will need to export some 40000 tons to European markets.  Hayek asked the Minister of Agriculture, Akram Shehayeb, to pursue the efforts initiated by his predecessor and finalize agreements for exports and conclude contracts with companies.
Source: Al-Safir 3 June 2014

The Daily Star newspaper published today an interview with Hayat Arslan, as part of its series of weekly articles interviewing pioneer Lebanese women from various sectors. Activist Hayat Arslan, talked about her family’s background and her husband’s, Emir Faysal Arslan, support which enabled her to get a degree in political science from the American University of Beirut when she was already a mother of two.
Arslan also talked about her “economically comfortable” background and how that hindered her from grasping the reality of the people, and especially the women, for a while. But once she became familiar with those obstacles preventing women from attaining their full potential, she decided to act, and founded in 1983 the Society of Lebanon the Giver, an association focusing on education and social welfare. The social organisation started its first project with the building of a school in the remote southern town of Hasbaya to cater to the area’s educational needs and later went on to initiate a women’s economic empowerment program. Arslan is also the founder of a training school for women in Aley, the Committee for Women Political Empowerment, and the Civil Society Dialogue Table.
Arslan indicated that the social status of women remains low even amongst educated women who still have struggle to claim their rights. Women's subordinate position pushed Arslan to lobby for the women quota system, a law that was drafted at a time when Prime Minister Sa3ed Hariri was in power and that aims at closing the gender gap in politics.
Although, Arslan admits that there has not been enough progress in terms of women’s rights in Lebanon, she pointed out that things are moving forward, adding that: “first, and most importantly, we are have succeeded in rooting the idea that there is a civil society ready to claim its rights by using words and not violent actions”. At the end, Arslan pointed out that there will be difficulties in the future, but these should neither block nor hinder young women, adding “nothing will make us move backward, nothing will shut us up ... nobody is better than us”.
Source: The Daily Star 2 June 2014

Following the statement of the Union of Senegalese Nationals which was published by l'Orient le Jour on May 24th 2014 following the arbitrary arrest and detention of 4 Senegalese household workers, the head of the Union, Ibrahima Ciss noted that the news published by L'OlJ was incorrect and that the Union did not make any official statement to any media.  He added that the Senegalese community in Lebanon has always been an example of seriousness and lawfulness and that it will continue to be so to gain the trust of the Lebanese government.  He called on Senegalese to always remain serious and responsible, to respect Lebanese laws, and not to interfere in local issues.
Source: L’Orient Le Jour 2 June 2014

The Daily Star newspaper published an article in its yesterday’s edition about one of Anjar’s culinary specialties namely the green walnut jam. The author of the article indicated that they first learned about walnut jam from the “Mouneh” cookbook by Barbara Abdeni Massaad, which is an extensive guide to traditional Lebanese preserves. The report describes in details the visit to Anjar and specifically to Madeline Nercisian Shkherdemian, one of the only 3 women in town who prepare the jam for selling and market consumption. Shkherdemian, sadly, pointed out that this year the already-rare jam will be in even shorter supply as the harsh winter has affected the green walnut harvest.  
Shkherdemian, described the whole process of jam preparation, saying that they pick the walnuts between the 25th and 28th of May each year, and use a needle to tell how ripe they are, then the green peel is removed by hand to expose the soft, inky black flesh, which proceeds to dye everything it comes in contact with for the duration of the process. Afterwards, thousands of peeled walnuts are soaked in a porcelain container for 12 days, while dumping and replacing the water each 24 hours to remove any bitterness. The walnuts are later boiled with sugar in several batches over a few days to infuse them with lip-smacking sweetness.
Source: The Daily Star 29 May 2014

The US Ambassador to Lebanon, David Hale, indicated that his embassy has, through the USAID, already trained 40 local tourist guides and set up 11 hostels and worked with some 50 municipalities and 10 NGOs in communities in the vicinity of Lebanese Mountain Trail (LMT) in order to highlight the benefits of this area and its potentials for rural tourism.  The US ambassador also highlighted the importance of culinary art as a way to attract tourists and hence the collaboration with Souk el Tayeb. Hale's statement was made during the exhibition of Travel Lebanon which was held within the program of activities of the Garden Show.  Hale added that USAID launched a new project worth USD 41.7 million USD which extends over five years and aims at developing products which attract local and rural tourism.  He also added that this project will create work opportunities in the areas where it will be implemented.
Source: Al-Hayat 30 May 2014

LIBNOR launched the Lebanese food trademark during an event organised under the auspices of the Minister of Industry, Dr. Hussein Hajj Hassan and with the participation of Minister of Environment, Mohammad Mashnook, MP Atef Majdalani, Libnor director Habib Ghreizi, IDAL director Nabil Itani, Ministry of Industry GM Dani Geadoun, Libnor GM Lina Dergham, and Association of Lebanese Industrialists vice president Georges Nasraoui.
In his speech, Hajj Hassan noted that despite the fact that the industrial sector occupies some 11% of the gross national product, yet Lebanon imports a total of USD 19 billion of which USD 2 to 3 billion are food import against food exports not exceeding USD 500 million.  He warned of further deterioration in the balance of trade and insisted that there is no solution for a balanced foreign trade unless the government adopts protection measures of local goods based on standards of quality.  He added that protection measure are key to increasing production capacity of the food industry and for increasing its competitiveness, safeguarding the health of consumers, ensuring food safety and strengthening consumers' trust in local products. The Minister concluded by noting that most industries operating in the food sector are able to obtain trademarks because they already have adopted the required quality standards.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Safir 30 May 2014

Safadi Foundation organized yesterday a first training session on planting oregano.  The training is part of a series of activities and workshops that the association is implementing within the framework of its programme on using natural resources for the development of the local rural economy in Akkar.  The project is implemented in collaboration with AIDA, a Spanish NGO, and within the Afkaar 3 initiative which is managed by OMSAR with funding from the European Union.  It seeks to strengthen women’s social and economic rights in Akkar as well as support the economic infrastructure of the local agriculture sector.
The event was organized in the Safadi agriculture centre in Deir Dulum (Akkar) and included lectures by Lebanese University Professor, Dr. Jihad Noon; an expert in planting thyme and herbs, with some 40 women and 15 men took part in the training and came from different parts of Akkar.  The workshop dealt with all the stages of planting oregano namely from soil preparation to planting, irrigation, harvesting and marketing.
The project manager at the Safadi Foundation, Dr. Ghassan Srur, spoke about the importance of the project for the economy and development of the Akkar region.  The project includes activities related to drying herbs and fruits.  He encouraged women to attend all different workshops and to take care of their harvest so that they can benefit from an additional income to the family.  Srour also spoke of the facilities and services that the agricultural centre offers to all the farmers in the region to help them lower their production cost.  Coordinator Elias Wehbi highlighted the future stages of the project notably the distribution of seedlings and irrigation services.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 29 May 2014

In collaboration with Berytech and the WE initiative of Fransabank, OIF announced that it will start receiving nominations for the grant award for the setting up of small enterprises.  The award which is now in its third year, seeks to support francophone businesswomen and motivate them to start businesses through a grant of 13500 Euros provided that the business idea is new and innovative and implementable in a maximum of three years and presented in French.  Those wishing to submit a project proposal must be university degree holders and preferably members of the OFI and should be residing in Lebanon during the implementation period. The deadline for receiving applications is June 30, 2104.
For more information on conditions for submission, please refer to the following link: Berytech

As Safir newspaper published a report about the banking sector in Lebanon and highlighted the situation of its employees in 2013 whilst looking at some of the criteria of this sector.  According to the report, this sector employed 23136 persons in 2013 with an increase of 499 employees over the previous year.  The report notes that the employees of the banking sector are usually young people holders of university degrees and of high qualifications and with women representing 45.9% of the total labor force in 2013.  This percentage of women in banking is increasing and is higher than the average of women participation in all economic sectors in Lebanon which does not exceed 25%.
With regards to other demographics, the % of single people continues to diminish as it has decreased from 39.5% in 2012 to 39.2% in 2013 (which can be broken down to 49.9% of single women and 50.1 % of single men).  The percentage of married women is 43.4% of the total married pool which equals 60.8%.
With regards to the age pyramid, there are more young men than young women except in the less than 25 age category where women represent 57.7% of total work force which means that women constitute the majority of newcomers into the banking sector.  The gender gap increases with age in favor of men, since the distribution of gender according to age shows that around 64% of women are below 40 years old, exceeding the percentage of men in that age category (53%).
When the variables of gender, age and educational level are compared, then, the number of women with university degrees is slightly more than men as 81% of women working in banks are university degree holders whilst those who have reached baccalaureate level form less than 5% of total which is the similar figure for men in “laborers” positions.
Source: Al-Safir 28 May 2014