New Minister of Industry aims to raise the share of industry in GDP from 11% to 17%

The new Minister of Industry, Dr. Hajj Hassan, spoke during a dinner convened in his honor by former Minister of Tourism, Fadi Abboud, earlier this week, outlining a number of measures which if adopted by his Ministry will result in raising exports and the share of industry in GDP from 11% to 17%.  Hajj Hassan detailed some of these measures which include making sure that the proposed  50% tax waivers on profits of domestic industries is endorsed by the current parliament, following up with the Minister of Finance the discussions on the issue of the recovery of the Value Added Tax on industrial machineries.  Other proposed measures include creating a credit line to finance exports with low interest rates, addressing the current imbalance in foreign trade, doubling exports. Hajj Hassan also mentioned the need to address those issues related to transportation with the Minister of Public Works and the heads of the seaport authority, and transportation companies, while focusing on other important issues such as lowering the high production costs, the setting up of industrial zones, guaranteeing sufficient energy supply, addressing problems related to the work force and social security, etc...  Hajj Hassan also noted that he will aim to develop the Ministry of Industry at the organisational, structural, human resource-related and material levels despite the short lifespan of his Ministry.
Finally, Hajj Hassan expressed his support to the idea of creating industrial zones run by the private sector whilst ensuring that education and research are linked to industry. He also emphasized the importance of strengthening industrial research centres so as to allow the sector to regain its creativity and help industrialists to develop their companies through finding ways to help them decrease the cost of production and to adopt new technologies.
For his part, former Minister Abbood hoped that the Lebanese industry can make a quantum leap in the near future and highlighted the importance of collaboration that seeks to increase productivity in the sector. He spoke of the various challenges and prohibitive costs that burden the industrialists in the face of stiff competition from neighboring countries where production costs are lower than in Lebanon.  Finally, Abbood also criticised the previous government decisions to abolish protection taxes in compliance with demands of the World Trade Organisation.
Source: Al-Nahar, Al-Diyar, Al-Safir 27 February 2014