Despite sluggishness industry employs some 134 thousand workers and contributes 12% to GDP

Al Diyar daily published a review of industrial exports during 2014 and the first five months of 2015 which revealed a 7% decline. Data showed that the value of exports during May 2015 reached USD293 million against USD235 million for the previous month and a USD308 million in May 2014. As such, the drop in exports of commodities stood at 8.7% for the first five months of the present year compared to the same period of last year. Despite these figures, the president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association Fadi Gemayel told Al Diyar that the industry sector still employs over 134 thousand workers and contributes to 10% of the Gross Domestic Product, while yearly industrial exports secure nearly USD 3 billion worth of hard currency, thus contributing to the reduction of the trade deficit which has reached recently $17 billion. (Al Diyar, 22 August 2015)