News

The Minister of Economy and Trade, Alain Hakim, launched yesterday the "Lebanese Strategy to support SMEs: A roadmap towards 2020"and which includes 40 initiatives, categorised by priority, and will be implemented in three stages starting now and until 2020.  Hakim noted in his address during the event that his Ministry has placed the issue of supporting SMEs on top of its priorities.  In line with this, the Ministry, in collaboration with the UNDP and the private sector, went ahead in preparing this strategy which will seek to strengthen the opportunities of setting up efficient SMEs that are capable of competing in order to create job opportunities as well as develop an economy that has an added value. The regional representative of UNDP, Luca Renda, noted that 93 to 95% of these companies employ hundreds of thousands of individuals and provide employment opportunities for many Lebanese.  He added that Lebanon currently needs to create 23000 new jobs per year to absorb university graduates and thus, helping SMEs will contribute to creating adequate opportunities for young people, and strengthen the role of women in the world of work.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Diyar 17 December 2014

BLC bank organised an event to distribute the third edition of the “Outstanding Lebanese Award” which honor business women and men amongst owners of Lebanese companies and who have proven their distinction in their field of business. This is the first bank award of its kind in Lebanon.  Winners of the “Business of the Year” and “Woman Entrepreneur of the Year” categories each received a sum of USD 30,000 whereas the winner of the People's Choice award received a sum of USD 5,000.
The award highlighted the successes of innovative business pioneers in managing their businesses.  Contestants came from all parts of Lebanon and presented innovative business projects which reflected their aspirations.  Winners were selected by an independent expert jury including representatives from the Lebanese Central Bank, Berytech, LAU, Endeavour, International Financing Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank, Kafalat, Lebanese Businessmen Association (LBA), BLC bank, and outstanding business women. To be noted that the winner of the Business of the Year award was Sawsan Wazzan al-Jabri, and the winner of the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award was Aline Kamakian, while Christina Maria Khater won the People's Choice award.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 17 December 2014

The Tekrit section of Juma coordination of the Future Movement in Akkar organised a ceremony to celebrate the graduation of participants who completed two training courses in IT and beautician which were organised in Akkar.  Some 17 students took part in the IT training course and 14 women in the beautician course.  The event was organised in collaboration with the local women section of FM and with the participation of the general coordinator Issam Abdelqader, the administration coordinator Mohammad Taleb, and the section’s coordinator Siham al-Halabi. Abdelqader noted that these training courses seek to help young people gain IT skills, and improve the conditions and develop the skills of women in Akkar, so as to assist them in finding new work opportunities.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 17 December 2014

Minister of Labor, Sejaan Azzi, issued yesterday a memorandum in which he defined professions which are exclusive to Lebanese citizens but with some exceptions. Azzi clarified in a statement that his memorandum comes at a time when the Lebanese labor is facing a fierce competition and it is the duty of the Ministry to protect Lebanese labor as well as employers.  He added that this memorandum is in line with considerations related to national interest and the principle of reciprocity, the needs of the job market as well as humanitarian consideration.  The memorandum noted that all professions including administrative, banking, insurance and educational jobs will be exclusive to the Lebanese citizens, while professions in commerce, banking, accounting, engineering, and liberal professions to be exclusive to Lebanese employers.
Source: Al-Diyar, Al-Akhbar, Al-Safir, Al-Nahar 17 December 2014

In its issue of yesterday, L'Orient le Jour interviewed Lebanese-Italian Nahida Nakad who received the Women of Gold award for 2014.  Nakad woks as a report for French TV TF1 and is the head of France 24 channel which broadcasts in Arabic.  This award is addressed to women who score achievements in their professional lives and is based on voting by the public undertaken in Haute-Savoie.  Nakad noted that women's work is not adequately recognised in various professional sectors and women who reach high positions do so with great difficulty.  She added that the world is very much patriarchal and that gender inequality in Lebanon is very visible and that women have important impact on the national developments.
Source: L’Orient Le Jour 15 December 2014

The Ministry of Agriculture launched its 2015 - 2019 strategy during an event organised yesterday under the auspices of the Prime Minister Tammam Salam.  The director general of the Ministry, Louis Lahhud, noted that the strategy was developed with support from Agriculture and Rural Development Project (ARDP) funded by the EU and with technical assistance from a Consortium composed of Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari (MAIB) and Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier, the Lebanese International Business and Communication Company (IBCC), lead by the Italian AGRICONSULTING Company.  Lahhud clarified that the strategy is financed by the European Union and will be implemented in eight directions, namely providing healthy and quality nutrition from local production and exports through producing a food safety policy, increasing production and competitiveness, strengthening rational management and sustainable use of natural resources, strengthening agricultural extension, education and agricultural and scientific research, strengthening the cooperatives sector, modernising the structure of the Ministry and upgrading its role and addressing the impact of climate change.
Source: Al-Safir, Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Diyar 16 December 2014

The Minister of the Industry, Dr. Hussein Hajj Hassan called for a Press Conference yesterday during which he discussed the issue of food safety within the food industry in Lebanon as well as review the implications of the present food safety campaign kicked off by the current Minister of Public Health a month ago.  Hajj Hassan noted that the proprietors of some factories intend to either close or move to other countries.  This, according to the Minister, poses grave concern regarding the situation of thousands of families whose members work in this sector.  Hajj Hassan called on the media to act responsibly in dealing with this matter.  Hajj Hassan also noted that although a number of infarctions unveiled were indeed true, yet, when the institutions in question arranged their situations, they were not treated fairly.  He added that there are 20 factories which have been granted the ISO 22000 certificate whilst 70 others are in pipeline.  Hajj Hassan also pointed out to the characteristics of the Lebanese food industry which exports USD 400 million yearly with only 1% products being returned.  He concluded that the food sector employs some 50,000 workers and constitutes 4% of the country GDP.

Source: Al-Nahar, Al-Diyar, Al-Akhbar 16 December 2014

The European Neighbourhood Partnership Initiative (ENPI) held a conference in Rome last week to review the outputs of the programme outputs during the past seven years and to launch a new strategy for 2015 - 2020 within the framework of the ENPI programme which was granted a budget of Euro 209 million.  The strategy includes a number of components namely, strengthening social and economic development, supporting education, diversifying sustainable tourism, technology transfer, and support to SMEs in research and innovation. Countries eligible for the programme include Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Malta, Spain, France, as well as Israel.  Cooperation with Syria was however suspended in 2011. Some 70 people from Lebanon participated in the conference including representatives from Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture and municipalities, as well as organising involved in development programmes in Lebanon especially those receiving EU funding.
Source: Al-Safir 13 December, Al-Mustaqbal 15 December 2014

Honey industry developing in Lebanon but needs protection
Al Mustaqbal newspaper published a report on the beekeeping and honey production sector in Lebanon. According to the united association of beekeepers’ cooperatives Suhail Qudmani, this sector is gaining importance and increasing considerably.  He added that beekeepers are abreast of global developments despite their limited resources.  He also expressed the fact that beekeepers trust the decision of the current Minister of Agriculture which gives due consideration to this sector and is seeking to expand and protect it.  Qudmani also noted the importance of taking care of this sector as well as find scientific solutions for the problems it is facing because it is linked to all other forms of agriculture and is thus crucial for food security for humanity at large.
The head of the united association of beekeepers’ cooperatives in Beqaa, and the head of beekeepers’ cooperative in Qar3un Elie Abu Fares noted for his part that the environment for beekeeping was pure a few years ago but is now witnessing negative changes as a result of overuse of poisonous pesticides as well as increasing pollution.  He expressed his regrets for this situation as Lebanese honey production is as good and as high in quality as foreign production but is of limited quantity.  Abu Fares warned against chaotic import of foreign honey.  He said that there is no problem with regulated and controlled imports.  The issue is with illicit imports as well as with the Arab trade agreement which allows honey to come in tax free. Beekeeper Reshrash Naji from Rashayya noted that beekeeping is doing well and is a source of livelihood for tens of families despite the fact that it decreased in a number of areas in Lebanon.  However, according to him, Rashayya honey is high in demand as it is still preserving its high quality given that the environment in pollution and pesticide free and given that agriculture in the area is arable and the sources of water are clean.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 14 December 2014

The Intellectual Civil Forum organised a seminar yesterday on “job market and university majors” in Aley.  The event was held under the auspices of the Minister of Agriculture, Akram Chehayeb, who spoke about the problem of unemployment in Lebanon which, according to him, ranges between 18 and 20% but increases to 60% amongst young people and graduates.  He noted that this unemployment rate is amongst the highest in the region.  Chehayeb deplored the absence of government employment policies, the lack of clear assessment of the problem and poor data. Chehayeb further added that work opportunities in Lebanon are limited and that the situation is further complicated by the deepening crisis.  He highlighted the incompatibility between the needs of the job market and existing programmes to train technicians and specialists, adding that there are some 35,000 university graduates every year against only 5,000 new jobs.
Source: Al-Diyar 13 December 2014