Industry and agriculture can absorb part of unemployment in Lebanon

Minister of Industry, Hussein Haj Hassan noted that Lebanon needs to create between 35,000 and 40,000 jobs annually to contain the influx of workforce in the labor market. Speaking to L’Orient Le Jour newspaper on March 21, Haj Hassan said “aside from migration which absorbs a considerable part the labor force, we still have to generate some 15 thousand employment opportunities per year.” Furthermore, he indicated that while services constitute the pillars of the Lebanese economy, those sectors has reached a saturation point, namely with the reported rise of unemployment to 30%. He added that agriculture and industry can provide good prospects for job creation. “There are currently 40 thousand workers in these two sectors,” he said while revealing that he intends to increase the contribution of industry to GDP from 11 to 18% over the next 3 to 4 years. Haj Hassan noted that the industry sector suffers from high costs of production linked to high energy and real estate prices. On reforms planned by his Ministry, Haj Hassan indicated that work is underway on the adoption of new income taxation that will provide exemptions on agricultural and industrial export sales. This decision he said will be followed by another legal action to support those loans aimed at financing the procurement of raw material. He added that his Ministry is presently working on the construction of three industrial zones of a total area of 1000 acres, that will be leased to entrepreneurs at price rates 60 to 70% less than market values, and which will be completed in two to three years. (L’Orient Le Jour, 21 March 2015)