The Businessmen and Businesswomen in the World association (RDCL) presided by Fouad Zamakhal on Friday organized a talk with World Bank Vice President for MENA region, Farid Balhaj and the Regional Director of the Mashreq Department, Saroj Kumar Jha, to discuss the WB’s view on the current economic situation in Lebanon, as well as the vision and forecast for the coming period, locally and regionally. Zamakhal said although the meeting was conditional on the presence of government representatives, it took place on RDCL’s insistence that the WB support should by priority target citizens, households and companies, in addition to Lebanese business people around the globe. He called for greater backing to Lebanese firms in the doldrums in order to build a sustainable growth and create jobs. Zamakhal pointed out that the main predicament which faces Lebanon’s economy is the no-growth situation. Growth is the only solution to reduce deficit, generate employment, and confront the most serious challenge of unemployment (26%), Zamakhal said, urging the World Bank to work up a recovery plan to address the social and economic stalemate. For his part, Belhaj noted that, despite its noticeable efforts in education, Lebanon is not achieving high results to this end, pointing to the present critical economic conditions, and stressing the need to lift restrictions on young people and encourage them to work in the private sector. Similarly, Kumar Jha explained that the crisis in Lebanon is interrelated with environmental factors, renewable energy as well as financial and digital technologies, which largely contribute to the development of national economy. (Al Diyar, November 17, 2018)
