News

Finally, and after 92 days of stagnation in the traffic of Lebanese exports due to the closure of all land borders, the Council of Ministers approved last Thursday to support the transport by sea of agricultural and industrial exports bound for the Arab countries by subsidizing the additional shipping expenses through a USD 21 million allocation for a period of seven months which will be disbursed on a monthly basis and according to a timetable laid down by IDAL in coordination with the Agriculture Minister. In this respect, Ibrahim Tarshishi, President of the Association of Beqaa Farmers expressed his relief on the positive results pointing that the plan should have been approved much earlier. Tarshishi disclosed that an emergency meeting will be held next week in the presence of Akram Shehayeb, Minster of Agriculture, and various parties concerned, including representatives of exporters, the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon and shipping agencies in order start the implementation of the proposed plan. (Al Diyar, As Safir, An Nahar, 3 July 2015)

On the evening of June 27, Mary Fakhoury, 27, rushed out of her house engulfed in fire and screaming for help. She ran naked in the street close to the southern port of Tyre shouting ‘alcohol, cigarette’. In the meantime her neighbor who hurried for her rescue said she saw the husband dashing in and out of the house and pleading ‘wrap her in a bed sheet’ while he was preoccupied in put out the fire in the sofa leaving his wife to her fate. Immediately, Mary was rushed to Jabal Amel Hospital and from there to Geitawi as she was suffering from severe burns all over her body. She stayed there for nearly five days before she passed away last Thursday. Her husband took her dead body without informing her family who had arrived the next day, Friday, to find their daughter dead and her body hijacked by the suspect who declared that he will bury her in his hometown in the district of Byblos. This angered her family who wanted Mary to be buried in Tyre. In this respect, the family’s attorney Samar Traboulsi said the parties agreed to bury her in Tyre after the intervention of the Prosecutor in the South Judge Rahif Ramadan. The death incident remains a mystery with no clear evidence that the perpetrator is the husband. Meanwhile, sources indicated that victim’s family was planning to sue the husband for murder. (Al Akhbar, 4 July 2015)

The Promotion and Social Development Association (Prodes) celebrated in the town of Maad, Byblos, the completion of its project entitled: ‘Strengthening Socio-Economic Women Role in Lebanese Rural Areas through the Development of Tourism, Hospitality and Small Enterprise Networks’. The project was financed by the European Union and implemented by Prodes in collaboration with the Spanish Association ‘Tertio Pilastro’. The celebration ceremony was held at the training center of the Institute of Management and Services in the presence of 50 stakeholders in the fields of tourism, education and development in addition to women micro-entrepreneurs from the villages of Deir Ahmar, Bsharri, Abrin, Dooma, Fatri and Ehmej. Prodes president Juliana Najem praised the successful cooperation between her association, the municipalities and local communities. The project officer, Caroline Khalifeh, noted that the vocational training workshops organized in the villages have strengthened relations between rural women on the one hand, local associations and authorities on the other, stressing the need to engage the private sector in development programs. (L’Orient Le Jour, 3 July 2015)

On the occasion of the World Day of Agricultural Cooperatives, the head of the agricultural section at the General National Union of Lebanese Cooperative Associations, George Constantine Inati lamented the neglect by the government of such organizations and stressed that supporting and developing the cooperative movement is the best approach for reviving the agricultural sector. Addressing the demands of Lebanese farmers, Inati pointed out that agricultural cooperatives stand ready to play their role as mediators between farmers and consumers. Besides, Inati added, they are well equipped to collect and package agricultural produces in preparation for marketing domestically and abroad. He appealed to farmers, co-op organizations and agricultural syndicates to “join forces in order to put an end to the uncontrolled sales of farmers land”, adding that currently one of the key priorities of Lebanese farmers is to benefit from the Social Security Fund. He urged authorities concerned to protect national production warning against including any domestic produce threatened with dumping by imported goods, in any future trade agreement. Finally, he called for the establishment of state-run agricultural cooperative markets to be operated and managed by the cooperatives themselves under the motto ‘from the farmer directly to the consumer’. (As Safir, Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, 5 July 2015)

The International Monetary Fund anticipated in its ‘fourth article mission’ report on Lebanon a growth by 2% for the economy this year. IMF Executive Council said the ongoing war in neighboring Syria has dominated the economic outlook in Lebanon especially with the growing number of Syrian refugees presently which currently account for ¼ of the Lebanese population. The refugee crisis, it added, has drained the local communities adding to the poverty and unemployment and is troubling the already fragile economy, public finance and the infrastructure. The IMF report went on to say that the conventional sectors responsible for Lebanon’s growth, like tourism, real estate and construction have received a severe blow with imminent recovery or growth by 4% unlikely before 2019. It also noted a drastic decline in inflation during 2014 due to the decline in oil prices among other factors, but expected it to rise again to 3% by the end of this year. Concerning public finance, IMF noted unusual influences that allowed the accumulation of an initial surplus in 2014 (amounting to 2.5% of GDP) which however came unaccompanied by practical and decisive steps. Accordingly, the report expects that initial surplus in the balance of payments will turn around into a deficit of 1.25% of GDP by the end of 2015 while public debt continue to grow reaching nearly 132% of GDP. (Al Hayat, 2 July 2015)

The School of Pharmacy at Saint Joseph University organized yesterday its first forum on professions at the Medical Campus in Beirut with the participation of 14 pharmaceutical companies. USJ President, Salim Dakkash, stated in his opening address that the function of the pharmacist is no longer limited to drug fabrication at his facility but has become a vital provider and trained expert on the rational use of medicine aided with precautionary advice. The pharmacist he added has also become a leading researcher at big pharmaceutical factories working for the advancement of science and for the combination of most effective medicinal drugs. For her part, the Dean of the Pharmacy School, Marianne Abi Fadel, pointed out that sub specialties such as medical, industrial and hospital pharmacy, pharmaceutical marketing as well as scientific research in pharmacy, are becoming more in tune with the constant development of the profession and hence are opening broader careers on the national, regional and international levels. (Al Mustaqbal, 2 July 2015)