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The Minister of Economy and Trade, Dr. Alan Hakim, submitted last week the economic vision and plan of his ministry to the cabinet for discussion. He requested the formation of a joint economic ministerial committee to the same effect. Expounding on the said plan, the minister said it is largely based on realistic and practical objectives while aiming at the following: “readdressing the financial situation, improving the business environment so as to encourage investment, trade and capital inflows, mobilizing private sector initiatives and potentials, tackling the effects of Syrian refugee crisis on domestic economy, controlling the wage bill, managing public debt, and developing partnership between the public and private sectors.” Hakim went on to explain, that this new vision covers all economic sectors, including small and medium enterprises, the industry and agriculture sectors. It is aimed at stimulating the economy, entrepreneurship, infrastructure projects, he added, as well as creating jobs and attracts private Arab and international investments, with a strong focus on the “Lebanization of the economy”. (Al Diyar, April 15, 2015)

 

On the sidelines of the HORECA Hospitality Fair which was organized between April 5-8 at Biel, Beirut, L’Orient Le Jour interviewed a number of involved business persons to learn more about the catering industry. The President of the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Night Clubs and Pastries in Lebanon, Toni Ramy, pointed out that frequenting bars and cafes has fallen by nearly 20% from between 2011 and 2015, tracing the decline to numerous factors. The most important being the turmoil in the local and regional security and political situation which has had its heavy toll on the tourism sector in Lebanon, added to the recent trash crisis. Another reason was the ongoing food safety campaign which many concerned circles blame for the current chaos the sector is witnessing. Similarly, the director of Hodema, a leading provider of professional consulting services in the hospitality industry, Naji Morkus, indicated a drop by 30% in 2015 of the total sales in the country as a result of the weakening domestic purchasing power. However, L’Orient Le Jour explained that notwithstanding the grim image at present, the hospitality sector is still resilient. It cited Ramy as saying that some 300 establishments are expected to kick off in the next two years. This fact was confirmed by the Joint Burger network of restaurants managers who revealed the launch of some 8 points of sale across Lebanon since its inception back in 2010. (L’Orient Le Jour, April 8, 2016)

 

The chief of the syndicate of wheat farmers in Lebanon, Khaled Shuman, confirmed in a statement last Monday, that the Ministry of Economy & Trade (MoE&T) has begun the disbursement of funds for wheat farmers as planned. This measure comes after a cabinet decision to allocate a sum of LBP175,000 for each dunum in compensation for not buying the annual wheat harvest as was the norm in past years. The statement estimated the “number of beneficiaries at 561 farmers, while in fact more than 200 thousand Bekaa farmers, including the families of wheat growers, land proprietors and agricultural companies, benefit from the compensation.” Shuman finally hoped that the Lebanese government would draw a quick and clear vision for the present wheat production in order to avoid the bad experience of the previous season. (L’Orient Le Jour, April 14, 2016)

 

Related links: 

Wheat growers await dues while the new season set off

http://www.weeportal-lb.org/news/wheat-growers-await-dues-while-new-season-set

 

USD 115 per dunum in financial compensation for wheat farmers

http://www.weeportal-lb.org/news/usd-115-dunum-financial-compensation-wheat-farmers

 

Wheat growers confused over compensations and new directives

http://www.weeportal-lb.org/news/wheat-growers-confused-over-compensations-and-new-directives

 

In its issue of April 8, Al Akhbar daily newspaper quoted business circles and experts in the food industry in the country as warning of an imminent danger to the sector, despite having relatively maintained a steady growth in the volume of businesses and exports over the past few years. The majority of food companies have admitted a decline in the size of investments and sales as a result of the rise in the cost of production combined with the fierce competition in the local and foreign markets, as well as the disruption of the land transport for exporting. Meanwhile, the president of the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL), Nabil Itani, commended the resilience of the sector which he said possesses many mechanisms that allow it to increase its exports to record levels. He noted that food manufacturing establishments now observe the latest international standards and specifications in both production and packaging. Itani was speaking during his tour to Michel Daher food factories in Forzol, Beqaa. IDAL President clarified that despite the border crisis and the disruption of land shipments which forced a decline of the 2015 exports, the food industry exports stood nearly at 36.5% of total industrial exports while recording an increase of 32% between 2011 and 2015. Itani cited a study prepared by IDAL which showed that the total number of companies in the sector now represents more than 20.3% of the total number of industrial companies. (Al Akhbar, April 8, Al Mustaqbal, April 13, 2016)

 

The president of the Saint Joseph University, Prof. Salim Daccache, signed yesterday an agreement with the Paul Bocuse Gastronomy Institute represented by Paul Flori in the presence of the director of the school of business, Joseph Chehab and the general consul of France, in addition to a number of university staff and figures from the hospitality sector. The agreement provides for the training of St. Joseph University students at the French institute on the latest innovative culinary approaches and techniques, particularly in the sweets and pastries industry. It also arranges an exchange of faculty staff between the two parties. On the occasion, Daccache pointed out that the accession of the University’s business school, which comprises the hospitality department, to the Institute Paul Bocuse Worldwide Alliance designates a determination for partnership and cooperation in the culinary industry and the training of professional chefs.” Flori, in his turn, stressed the importance of commitment by the University to the academic education because as he said “the needs in this respect are huge around the globe, especially in view of the unstable conditions everywhere.” (Al Mustaqbal, April 12, 2016)

 

 

Politicians in Lebanon have lately referred to unsubstantiated figures on the size and rate of unemployment in Lebanon that are far from logic and are not based on any reliable official statistics. In a latest statement, the Labor Minister Sajaan Azzi stated that nearly one million out of four million Lebanese citizens are jobless, i.e. 25% of the total population (and not of the workforce). Perhaps it is not a coincidence that the total number of refugees in the country at present is one million persons according to UNHCR estimations, thus giving Minister Azzi the opportunity to persevere in trying to link the chronic problem of unemployment in Lebanon to that of Syrian displacement.  Azzi’s statement concerning unemployment was made last Friday during his launching of the ‘We Act for the Recruitment of Youth’ initiative, in cooperation with USAID and Microsoft. On that occasion, the minister urged the United States to help Lebanon in relieving the burden of the refugee crisis on unemployment!? (For the full article, please visit: http://www.almustaqbal.com/v4/article.aspx?Type=NP&ArticleID=699761)

An Nahar, Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, April 9, 2016

 

Quoting the latest commercial data, the President of the Committee for Commercial Markets in Beirut, Rashid Kibbeh, disclosed that over one thousand enterprises in the different markets of the capital, have closed down completely. Kibbeh who was speaking to Al Mustaqbal newspaper named the downtown commercial district as one example, in addition to the shops scattered in the neighborhoods of Corniche al Mazra3a, Mar Elias, Barbour, Hamra and vicinity, Furn el Chebbak, Badaro, Nuweri, Basta, Verdun, Ashrafieh, Afeef Tibi, Cola and Wata Musaytbeh. Kibbeh warned that “unless the causes of the crisis are addressed immediately, these figures are likely to rise considerably over a short period of time.” He stressed that the resistance of similar businesses has weakened  after “they lost their backup system following years of decline.” Kibbe indicated another new factor that is widely seen in the expansion of transactions by Syrian business people, which is mostly illegal. He pointed out to “an established network of Syrian traders who tend to import wholesale items and smuggle them into Lebanon to be later distributed among Syrian retailers operating over all the Lebanese territory and unfortunately unchecked by the authorities.” Kibbeh grieved the losses incurred on many commercial sectors, some being seriously threatened with closure, urging the ministries of interior and economy to intervene and stop illegal activities. The Committee’s President voiced his concern over a further deterioration of the situation  He further added that the sector is expected to remain in a dire situation in view of the general conditions still prevailing in the country. (Al Mustaqbal, April 8, 2016)

 

Under the sponsorship of the industry minister, Dr. Hussein Haj Hassan, the Syndicate of Owners of Food Industries organized yesterday the 10th edition of the ‘National Day of Food Industries’ at the HORECA Hospitality Fair in Biel Exhibition Center. On the occasion, the President of the Lebanese Industrialists Association, Dr. Fadi Gemayel, stressed the association’s serious interest in developing the capacities of the various industrial sectors, most notably the food industries. “The challenges of globalization combined with the particularities and high prices of manufacture in Lebanon, require more specialization and uniqueness in the quality of goods we export to the world markets,” Gemayel said, adding, “this alone calls for greater cooperation between sectoral establishments.” Likewise, the president of the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL), Nabil Itani, maintained that the food industry has constantly proved its competence, particularly in the past couple of years. Exports in the sector, Itani noted, have reached record high levels in 2014, as a result of the efforts by owners of establishments to keep up with the latest international standards in production and packaging. For his part, Haj Hassan seized the opportunity to propose a comprehensive strategy to achieve the desired economic growth through giving the industry the resourceful contribution it needs over the next 10 years. This, Haj Hassan explained, is based on “the well-known facts related to the value of deficit in trade and budget, unemployment, public debt, the size of economy and the large discrepancy between the volume of deposits in banks and the GDP.” He urged the government to work for increasing the size of industry, and food industries in particular, and to encourage the establishment of third, fourth and fifth category industries, up to doubling the size of the food industry over the next ten years. (As Safir, Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, April 7, 2016)