News

The Minister of Tourism, Michel Pharaon, inaugurated yesterday the tasting festival of Lebanese foods which will take place between 9 and 15 November 2015.  Pharaon spoke during a press conference organized for that occasion with the participation of the General Director of Hospitality Services and the organizer of the event, Joumana Damous Salameh, and the member of the board of the syndicate of restaurants, cafes and patisseries, Maya Bekhazi.  The event was attendant by many interested in that sector.  Salameh noted that the purpose of the event is to reignite tourism and the economy through familiarizing with Lebanese cuisisine and restaurants.  She added that the event will allow participating restaurants to engage with consumers.  Minister Pharaon added that the restaurant sector is very dynamic and he reiterated that tourism was unfettered despite current crisis. (Al Safir, 6 November 2015)

 

The five winners of the L’Oreal- UNESCO For Women in Science Award 2015, Levant and Egypt Fellowships, stressed that challenges women face in the field of scientific research are harder compared to men, for some still see women as just ‘housewives’, while some higher education and research institutions give preference to men. The five Laureates who were honored on October 23 at the American University of Beirut, agreed that scientific research in the Arab world is impeded by certain hurdles, chiefly, the scarcity of resources, financial aid and a supportive incubator, and over and above, the unstable security and political situation in the region. For his part, Secretary General of the Government-run National Council for Scientific Research, Professor Mouin Hamzeh who headed the jury, noted a disparity in the ratio of women researchers between Arab states. He maintained that the biggest challenge facing PHD graduates lies in finding jobs besides college teaching, mainly in the productive development sectors. The five prize winners are Dr. Hiba Hajj (Lebanon), Dr. Ramya Bikaayn (Jordan), Dr. Intisar Majbali (Iraq), Dr. Abir Kotati (Gaza-Palestine) and Dr. Nashwa Bandari (Egypt). (As Safir, October 23, 2015)

 

Al Akhbar daily published a feature about a passionate woman entrepreneur from Tripoli who emigrated to Canada and returned to realize  her dream of a ‘wholesome bread’ corner in her hometown. Three years ago, Soumaya Merhi opened a small bakery in the northern capital and called it the ‘bread basket’ which showcases a variety of nutritious, additive free, organic and high quality breads and sweets. The products, the newspaper noted, are available in 20 points of sale across the Lebanese territory and are exported abroad. Merhi began marketing her delicacies solo, where she drove from one region to another, visiting hypermarkets, restaurants and bakeries to display her different creations. Later on, she launched her website http://www.breadbasketsquare.com/, to market online, and recently expanded her initiative reaching Erbil and Dubai. To keep up with the increasing demand on her products, Soumaya resorted to ‘Kafalat’ company for SME loans to get a modern machine that allows her to make in two days what she manually makes in a week’s time. According to Al Akhbar, Merhi presently sells US$26 thousand worth of products per month and is expecting her annual sales for the year 2016 to reach between US$ 500 thousand to 750 thousand. (Al Akhbar, November 4, 2015)

 

During the opening of the Conference for Business Opportunities, the Union of the Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Lebanon launched yesterday the so-called Charter of Economic Rights in partnership with Lebanon Opportunities magazine. The said declaration aims at developing a charter that comprises the various economic rights so as to tackle the impact of any protest movement or other decision on the essential rights that are considered a national priority. Elaborating on the new charter, the Union’s President Mohamad Chukair, said it was unanimously set by all production and community partners to confront any potential threat or infringement on the basic economic rights of citizens or institutions on which their livelihoods depend. “It is an unprecedented roadmap for achieving a healthy and vigorous economy. It also provides a stable environment that motivates high productivity and favorable conditions for work, investment and competitiveness,” Chukair noted. Similarly, Lebanon Opportunities Publisher, Ramsy Hafez, stressed that above rights are valid under all circumstances and come ahead of any national, political or economic demand, and are monitored in line with standards that apply to the various social and regional segments and divisions of society, including the enacting of laws and legislations, as well as the general political, development and economic programs, as he put it. (As Safir, An Nahar, November 4, 2015)

 

 

In a ceremony held last Friday at the Bristol Hotel in Beirut and under the patronage of the Economy Minister, Alan Hakim, the EU funded Lebanese Excellence Program distributed the certificates for ‘the Assessors of the Lebanese Excellence Award’ in the presence of a crowd of notable figures. The purpose of the award is to enhance the culture of excellence and quality in the country and urge local companies and institutions to adopt quality management in order to be able to compete on the domestic and international arenas. Hakim disclosed in his words on the occasion that LEA has successfully completed three phases of the process and that work is underway to implement the fourth phase which seeks to cover the public sector, in cooperation with the office of the Minister of State for Administrative Development Affairs. “We are working on giving the award a regional and international dimension through the development of memorandums of understanding with similar initiatives in Arab and foreign countries, especially the European Community countries”

(Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, October 31, 2015)

 

In its issue of October 23, As Safir daily pointed out that despite the start of the new farming season and the decision by the Prime Minister and the Economy Minister to subsidize this agriculture, wheat growers are still awaiting last year’s financial compensation. The endorsed mechanism includes allocating LBP 75 thousand for each dunum, while leaving the farmers the freedom to act with the supply and production of the crop. In this respect, the President of the Wheat Growers Association in Lebanon, Khaled Shouman, said the advance has yet to be signed. The Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil appealed for a quick disbursement of the sum to be paid to farmers particularly at the onset of the winter season and its anticipated overheads. (As Safir, Al Mustaqbal, October 26, 2015)

 

In collaboration with the German Friedrich Naumann Foundation, the Future Movement Women’s Sector organized last Saturday a workshop on advocacy and the participation of women in political parties. Targeting the central sector’s committees officers from all across Lebanon, the workshop stressed the role of a party in promoting a more effective engagement of women by reestablishing their rights in being part of the decision making process. Participants were divided into working groups, who were asked to draw their vision of advocacy to be used in campaigns related to the rights of women and the need to promote awareness and societal and partisan mobilization programs to pressure for change in the prevailing legal and social systems. Participants also discussed proposals for anti-violence and discrimination campaigns and ways to raise awareness on the problem and influence decision makers on the one hand, and the community on the other to this effect.

Al Mustaqbal, November 1, 2015

 

The Traditional farmers’ market known as Souk Al Tayyib hosted for the second consecutive week on Saturday, October 24, the Beirut Street Festival sponsored by the Swiss Embassy and the Swiss Cultural Institute in coordination with SOLIDERE. During this event, artist Hans Harling performed the “It’s Plas- Tic” show depicting the obsession with plastic surgery and the beauty mania of the Lebanese. Laura Stam and Coreen Hartley from Holland staged an outstanding creativity in the “Fiddle Show and the Perk” street theatre which is about two elves who are bored of their daily routine and run off. It is to be noted that Perky and Fiddle started back in 2009 at the Dutch Garden Show before traveling to Belgium, Germany, France and today to Lebanon. These shows are symbolic, as said the 2015 festival’s organizer, Mustafa Yamout. (An Nahar, October 26)