Click here to go to the following issues:

Click here to go to the following issues:

Economic Aspects | Natural Resource Aspects | Institutional Aspects | Social Aspects |Lebanon

NATURAL RESOURCE ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN LEBANON

Click here to go to these sections:

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Decision-Making: Coordinating Bodies   

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in charge of preparing, coordinating and implementing the external policy affairs of the government of Lebanon (law no. 1306).

The Ministry of Environment is in charge of protecting the environment in general, setting regulations and standards, and advising on the wise use of implementing projects and programme in a sustainable manner.

The Council for Development and Reconstruction is responsible for coordination and management of foreign assistance. The Council is the national government agency responsible for planning, mobilizing and coordinating external financing, and implementing large-scale and complex projects. CDR is also responsible for selecting companies, local and international, that have submitted bids for development projects and for supervising the work carried out on each project. 

The Council of Ministers is the body authorized to approve all development projects at the national level. The execution is carried out through the ministries in charge, governorates and/or municipalities. However, since the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) replaced the Ministry of Planning (Decision no. 5 in year 1977), it became the national executing agency for all national development projects (especially internationally funded ones). Some of its duties are:

-           To plan and suggest economic, financial and social policies.

-           To propose to the Council of Ministers laws for reconstruction and development;

-           To advise the Council of Ministers on models of execution, finance and control of the government approved programmes and projects;

-           To ask various ministries, municipalities and other public institutions to prepare projects that suit public reconstruction and development goals;

-      To provide the ministries, municipalities as well as public and private institutions with relevant required data.

 

On the other hand, the Code of the Environment pointed out to the establishment of a National Council for the Environment (Art. 10) that would encompass representatives of various ministries, NGOs, scientists and others. The main duties of the Council will be to review the main amendments pertaining to environmental financial policies and environmental priorities, to assess environmental repercussions upon implementation of a given activity, to coordinate orientations of institutions and ministries, and finally to review and adopt all amendments made to laws, regulations and standards relative to the protection of the environment. This Code is still under review at the Parliament.

Decision-making is made through CDR, the Ministry in charge an/or the Mohafazats (Governorats). However, it is worth mentioning that municipalities are increasingly taking the initiatives of establishing twinning programmes, mainly with European cities.

Decision-Making: Legislation and Regulations 

No laws, regulation or directives pertaining to sustainable development in general, and to Agenda 21 in specific, have been identified. 

Decision-Making: Strategies, Policies and Plans  

In 1999, the Lebanese Government requested from CDR to prepare a five-year development programme, which will accompany the five year economic plan. This programme will replace the Horizon 2000 plan. The prepared Plan identified policy measures to be adopted by both the government and the private sector in order to promote an open and multilateral trading system. These measures are:

-           Bring Factor costs in line with neighboring countries;

-           Promote the upgrade of management and industry expertise;

-           Improve access to specialized skills and resources;

-           Improve access to capital.

-           Enhance firm knowledge, competencies and strategy;

-           Enhance local competition.

-           Improve access to markets.

-           Increase sophistication of products and services.

-           Continuous upgrading of products and services;

-     Increased coordination of activities among interconnected companies and institutions in a particular field.

The approval by Parliament of the law on privatization on 9 May 2000 represented an important step in the process of privatization. The law organizes the procedure of privatization with the fundamental aims of increasing budget revenues, reducing the cost of public services and improving the efficiency of their delivery, and reforming the administration. The Law stipulates that Parliament must authorize privatization on a case-by-case basis. The main possibilities for privatization are in the telecommunications, electricity, water, and transport sectors. The privatization programme will be implemented in accordance with the fiscal adjustment plan.

The Government addressed these macro-economic issues through the elaboration of a Five Year Fiscal Plan aiming at increasing macro-economic strength and stability, and the Five Year Development Plan aiming at strengthening and building the engines of growth at the micro-economic level and at the same time improve the living conditions throughout Lebanon. The FYDP objectives are to:

1-      Formulate an action plan to upgrade the competitive environment for Lebanese firms and define a vision for the future development of the Lebanese economy;

2-      Prioritize public expenditure projects to achieve acceptable provision of public facilities and social services within targeted public spending levels; and

3-    Build a stronger competitive platform for Lebanon’s firms and people to compete in the world economy.

Decision-Making: Major Groups Involvement  

NGOs, local authorities, industries and scientists are mostly involved in such a decision-making process, either on a consultative or a playing-role level. For instance, NGOs manage the three protected areas included within the GEF-Protected Areas Programme, the National Council for Scientific Research is responsible for conducting scientific studies for the Protected Areas Project and the Agrobiodiversity project. The same concept is applied to universities or independent researches and academicians. The remaining groups (e.g. women, farmers, workers, municipalities, etc.) are rather considered as target groups and direct beneficiaries of any implemented activity or project.

The above-mentioned groups benefit from financial assistance to carry out sustainable development issues (research, conservation, awareness campaigns, etc.). For instance, the management of the three protected areas included in the Project on Protected Areas (GEF) is being implemented by non-governmental organizations, thereby gaining in terms of area conservation, job creation and technical expertise. Support is given to NCSR to conduct scientific studies (Protected Areas Project, Agrobiodiversity, etc.).

Also, the European Commission approved a grant of 25 million Euro under MEDA 1 to create a Social and Economic Development Fund, which main objective is to provide funds to priority and underprivileged groups. It will also support the job creation capacity of small and medium enterprises through credit lines as well as through projects supporting job creation at local level and reduce the exclusion factors for priority groups, through local authorities and NGOs.

In addition, programmes for decentralized cooperation are undertaken, targeting towns (Med Urbs), universities (Med Campus) and professional media (Med Media). Added to that, a support programme is financed by EC to joint NGO development activities. Until now, more than 30 joint European and Lebanese NGO projects were financed under different budget lines.

Finally, two major projects will be initiated in 2001 targeting NGOs. The first one is the Institutional Support for NGO issues amounting for 1.000.000 US$ and funded by the Italian Government (2 years duration) and the GEF Small Grant Facility at UNDP headquarters.

As mentioned earlier, the Five Year Development Plan (FYDP) has among its objectives to promote the competitive advantage and competitiveness of the private sector which plays a central role as a motor for production within the Lebanese economy. In this respect, the Three-Point Programme was proposed

 In addition, as the government recognizes the potential for accelerated privatization both to increase government revenues to pay public debt and to increase productivity of public services, a Privatization Unit is proposed by FYDP to be implemented in order to handle privatization related-issues. 

Studies relative to this issue are not complete, but it could be considered that Small and Medium Enterprises will be mostly affected. 

Programmes and Projects 

The main donor organizations of the UN system were UNHCR, UNICEF, IFAD, UNDP and UNODCCP in 1999 with an amount ranging between 1 and 2 million US$. 12% of these disbursements were allocated to natural resources and were mainly contributed by the Montreal Protocol and the Global Environment Fund (GEF) with small-scale contributions from UNDP, FAO and IAEA.

The Montreal Protocol disbursed through UNDP and UNIDO 0.6 million US$ for the creation of an ozone unit at the Ministry of Environment to effectively phase out ozone depleting substances, and for phasing out of chlorofluorocarbons at a number of Lebanese industries. GEF disbursed 0.4 million US$ for strengthening national capacity and grassroots in-situ conservation of three protected areas (Horsh Ehden, Barouk Cedars and Palm Islands).

10% were allocated to agriculture, forestry and fisheries (IFAD, FAO, IAEA and GEF). The near totality of disbursements was made by IFAD for two on-going investment projects. The irrigation rehabilitation and modernization project (0.8 million US$) aims at improving the income of small farmers in under-served areas where irrigation schemes need rehabilitation. The small-holder livestock rehabilitation project (0.2 million US$) aims at increasing the income level and welfare of 2.900 farm families in the Bekaa Valley through importing cows, providing adequate farm support services and providing training for farmers. Project implementation continues to be disappointedly slow.

Other projects are:

The Capacity 21 programme phased out in December 1999. A major achievement of this project was the development and assistance to four municipalities in formulating an environmental action plan through Local Agenda 21 (LA21). The work plan made to the selected municipalities includes the establishment of environmental action plans defining specific actions, policies and economic measures for sustainable development according to the priorities set by the municipality itself.

The Investment Planning and Programming (IPP): Funded by the European Commission, this programme aims at supporting the implementation of public infrastructure investments in Lebanon. With a budget of 3 million dollars, it is planned to address energy issues including energy supply and demand, renewable energy and transport sector. The EU funds will be allocated to support institutional and policy nature activities as well as prime investment scale projects in energy efficiency. This will be achieved by supporting project design and providing technical advice to concerned private and public stakeholders.

The Project on energy efficient buildings: Funded by the consortium Fonds Français pour l’Environnement (FFEM)- Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maitrise de l’Energie (ADEME) and the Association Libanaise pour la Maitrise de l’Energie (ALME), and implemented by the Urban Planning Department and the Ministry of Energy and Hydraulic Resources, this two-year project aims at developing and adopting energy codes and thermal guidelines for buildings to enhance energy efficiency and end-use performance.

The Project on “Lebanon-cross sectoral energy efficiency and removal of barriers to ESCO operation”: This project, financed by UNDP and implemented at the Ministry of Energy and Hydraulic Resources, aims at assisting Lebanon curbing GHG emissions resulting from inefficient end-use energy consumption in all sectors of the economy. This will be achieved through removal of barriers to the wide scale introduction of energy efficiency and energy conservation measures in all sectors of Lebanese society. For that purpose, a Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation and Planning will be established. This Center will provide energy efficiency services to the public and private sector industries.

The Lebanese Environment and Development Observatory (LEDO) is a project funded by the European Commission – LIFE Third Countries, managed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and hosted by the Ministry of Environment. Launched in December 1999, its general objective was to provide proper information and better understanding of the state of environment and development in Lebanon. This objective will be achieved through (1) partnerships with other ministries, agencies, academic and research institutions, as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in environment and development issues, (2) pooling efforts to gather environment and development data, and (3) identify gaps and redundancies to establish a national information network.  LEDO entails a capacity building programme of partner organizations with a technical assistance component. A major and pilot achievement of this project is the formulation of indicators to assist institutions and decision-makers in monitoring and planning sustainable development issues.

The Fayhaa Municipal Union Observatory was initiated a tool to help the municipal union (within the City of Tripoli, North Lebanon) in the management of environment issues. Its main objectives are to (1) present a better understanding of the current state of environment and development in the area, (2) identify gaps and provide information to fill these gaps, (3) avoid overlapping in information collection, disseminating and sharing gathered information and making it available to local authorities as well as (4) building a solid base to encourage partnership and collaboration among municipalities in the area and other organisations of the civil society. The Fayhaa Municipal Union Observatory launched the air-monitoring laboratory in April 2000, which is equipped to measure air emissions from mobile sources and industrial activities.

The Methyl Bromide Alternative Demonstration Project was an outcome of the Ozone Office. The project aims at demonstrating the efficacy of various chemical and non-chemical methods as technical and economical alternatives to methyl bromide. The non-chemical methods include the soil solarization, bio-fumigation, and use of resistant varieties where available. A national strategy to implement methyl bromide will be formulated at a last phase of the project implementation upon obtaining of all results of the demonstration sites.

 The project for “Strengthening the Permitting and Auditing System for Industries” (SPASI) aims at strengthening the permitting, monitoring and auditing system for industries through the development of necessary legislation and the introduction of adequate tools. The project that started early 2000 is funded by EU-LIFE Third Countries, managed by UNDP and executed by the Ministry of Environment. Among the objectives set for this project, (1) set/update decrees for classified establishments; (2) set/update standards for environmental quality: (3) set environmental auditing procedures; (4) spread awareness concerning industrial compliance: and, (5) develop a compliance action plan. 

The Conservation and Sustainable Use of Dryland Agrobiodiversity is a regional project aiming at promoting the conservation and preservation of important wild relatives and landraces of agricultural species in Lebanon by introducing and testing in-situ and on-farm mechanisms and techniques for the conservation and sustainable use of agrobiodiveristy. The specific objectives of the project includes (1) conducting eco-geographic surveys of crop target species, (2) creating a standardized database on collected information from the national and regional project components for a better understanding of the threats of the agrobiodiversity of the region; (3) promoting alternative land-use practices at project sites for the conservation and suitable use of agrobiodiversity; (4) increasing national capacity to privide training in-situ, and (5) raising awareness.

GEF, the Interim funding mechanism to the Climate Change Convention, along with UNDP, funded the Climate Change enabling activity in Lebanon (1998-1999) to build national capacity in order to fulfill its convention requirements. Three Main activities were undertaken under this project:

- A first National inventory of greenhouse gases for baseline year 1994 was developed;

- A national greenhouse gas mitigation strategy was prepared that comprises options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from main sources such as the energy sector, waste sector, industrial sector and the forestry as a potential sink of CO2.

- Lebanon’s vulnerability was assessed to climate change. This analysis comprised the terrestrial ecosystem (forestry, protected areas and agricultural crops), the marine ecosystem, coastal zones and water resources. 

- Poverty Eradication;

At the end of 1999, there were five programmes providing poverty loans with 4.400 active borrowers and a loan portfolio outstanding of US$ 2 million. The average outstanding loan balance was US$454 (95% female borrowers and 39% of borrowers in rural areas). There were 13 programmes providing very small business loans with 6300 active borrowers and a loan portfolio outstanding of US$ 8.6 million. The average outstanding loan balance was US$ 1358 (16% female borrowers and 68% living in rural areas).

A “National Programme for improving living conditions of the poor in Lebanon” was executed with aims to reinforce on-going national efforts to understand the characteristics of the for in Lebanon, strengthen the Ministry of Social Affairs to develop a national framework for poverty reduction and implementing its programmes in this context, and to mobilize the needed financial resources for its implementation. The project is a continuance of efforts, initiatives and outcomes of a Poverty Strategy Initiative (PSI) executed by the Ministry of Social Affairs (1997-1998), and supported by UNDP (150.000 US$). The outcome of these efforts produced the “Mapping of living conditions in Lebanon” which identified regional disparities and priority needs and gaps for a national and comprehensive approach for reducing poverty. The study examined the characteristics of the deprived in Lebanon with respect to location, demography, education, housing services, car ownership and occupation of head of household and relation to the labor force.

Status

Since 1990, Lebanon has undertaken important achievements and initiatives to reconstruct its economy and achieve a stable macroeconomic environment. The reconstruction period re-put in place the public infrastructure and basic social services. However, the reconstruction entailed major public debt combined with ineffective taxation system, creating serious fiscal challenges to the country. Furthermore, the policy of maintaining high interest rates allowed the currency to stabilize and inflation to be controlled, but at a cost of low investment in the private sector.

All above-mentioned projects were the result of bilateral donations. In fact more than half of external assistance disbursements was from bilateral sources (55%). It is to mention that the World Bank allocated 55.0 million US$ to solid waste and environment, while 2.4% of total EU funds are allocated to environment.

Investment project assistance amounted to US$122.9 million in 1999. This mainly benefited the health sector (19%), human resources development (18%), social development (18%, the near totality for drinking water and sanitation), energy (17%) and transport (15%).

Total technical cooperation represented 31% of total disbursements of external assistance, unchanged from year 1999. Disbursements of invested-related technical cooperation remained modest at US$ 6 million, the near totality of which were grants. The main beneficiary sectors were human resources development (39%) and area development (30%).

Disbursements of freestanding technical cooperation increased by mere 1.5% to US$ 52 million in 1999. The near totality was in form of grants. Freestanding technical cooperation was concentrated in human resources development (34%), development administration (14%), social development (17%) and health (10%).  

The main sources of technical cooperation in 1999 were France (US$ 9.2 million), the UN System (US$ 8.8 million), the European Union (US$ 6.4 million), and the United States of America (US$ 5.9 million).

Emergency and relief assistance decreased to US$ 6.5 million in 1999 or 3.4% of total (compared to 4.2% in 1998). 82% was humanitarian aid and 18% assistance for health, all implemented by non-governmental organizations.

Total aid flows in terms of disbursements stood at only 188 million US$ in 1999, corresponding to 1% less than that of 1998 and 11% less than that of 1997). Total aid flows as a percentage of public investment amounted to 18.3 in 1999, slightly down from 18.7 in 1998, but significantly better than 16.4 in 1997. The share of aid flows in foreign financed public investment was 62% in 1999.

The following table summarizes the changes relative to flow of external assistance (in million US$).

 

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

Gross Disbursements

214.4

317.9

210.1

190.1

188.0

Grants

113.4

132.3

99.8

103.3

90.5

Soft loans

Gross

Reimbursements

Net disbursements

101.0

20.2

80.9

185.6

13.7

172.5

110.4

27.6

83.6

86.8

31.8

54.5

97.5

Official Development Assistance (net)

179.4

292.5

176.7

144.9

  

Source: Development Cooperation Report- Lebanon 2000- UNDP.

The disbursement of technical assistance by type of assistance is presented in the following table (in million US$):
 

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

Freestanding technical cooperation

32.0

22.4

22.7

27.7

28.0

Investment-related technical cooperation

1.3

0.7

4.0

4.1

3.2

Investment project assistance

59.5

67.1

68.0

64.0

65.4

Food aid

2.9

0.5

      

Emergency and relief assistance

4.3

9.3

5.3

4.2

3.4

Total

214.4

317.9

210.1

190.1

188.0

Source: Development Cooperation Report- Lebanon 2000- UNDP.

Challenges

Major challenges in building partnerships with other countries for promoting sustainable development include:

- Management and industry knowledge (upgrading information and labor quality);

- Setting clear private and public strategies;

- Access to capital;

- Innovation and access to technology;

- Market studies on customer’s preferences;

- Increase of cooperation between concerned institutions. 

 

The issues of Agenda 21 that require the most immediate attention for bilateral or multilateral cooperation, in view of Lebanon, are:

-    Combating poverty;

-    Changing consumption patterns;

-    Intensive capacity building and awareness raising targeting all groups;

-    Integrating and enforcing environment and development into the decision making process;

  -  Strengthening partnerships with civil societies, namely local authorities and NGOs.

Major challenges in building multi-stakeholder partnerships consist of:

-           Promoting a clear understanding of sustainable development issues;

-           Setting clear goals and objectives;

-           Mobilization of resources (human and financial);

-           Upgrade technical and scientific knowledge;

-           Increase of cooperation among local institutions (between NGOs, or between NGOs and private sector, etc.).

With over 50% of Lebanon exports dependent on natural resources, the challenge will be to move to higher value creation and to grow industries which are less dependent on natural resources.

On the other hand, the FYDP (2000-2004) indicated the following steps as alternatives to the administrative procedures considered as being barriers hindering the effectiveness of trade:

1- Obtaining documentation and delays due to processing documentation:

   -           Cancel current L.L. 50.000 export fee on condition that forwarding agent reduce its fees by 50% to $75 ;

   -           Cancel the requirement for importers to obtain legalization from the Lebanese Embassy in the country of origin, the total              annual revenues of which are currently used to support embassies;

   -           Cancel the requirement that importers submit the original version of required documents to begin custom clearance.

2- Administrative barriers for foreign investors:

   -           Expedite establishment of the “One-Stop-Shop” sponsored by the Investment and Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL);

   -           Set up electronic systems for customs clearing at border posts, not only at ports;

   -           Simplify procedures for obtaining the right to temporary import raw materials;

   -           Limit the number of times exporters are required to file the documents to prove that they are re-exporting raw materials under the law on temporary import;

   -       Set up a One-Stop-Shop at the Port with representatives of all relevant Economy and Commerce, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Environment);

   -           Allow trucks carrying export cargo to have access to the Port for longer time;

   -           Rationalize visa restrictions hampering Arab and Eastern European tourist visitors who wish to vacation in Lebanon);

    -     Simplify procedure for hotels to report daily their guest registration.

Capacity-building, Education, Training and Awareness-raising 

Capacity building is needed in project administration, management, monitoring and follow-up after projects are phased out.

Also, technical (sectoral) capacity building is needed for a sound implementation of the project goals and objectives.

- Assistance to the rehabilitation of the Lebanese Administration (ARAL). This aims at implementing the National Administrative Rehabilitation Programme (NARP) both at the central and local levels, with particular emphasis on central government agencies, ministries, public entities, and local government and Services. The Programme started its operations in the last quarter of 1999 (EU funding).

- The Industrial and Commercial Standards Project (6 million Euro) aims at strengthening the institutions responsible for the preparation and certification of standards and norms, with the Lebanese Standard Institute-LIBNOR. (EU funding).

- The objective of the Project for “the Implementation of the Institutional Development Strategy for Lebanon” is to develop a new substantive relationship with the public and enhance the role of the government as the instrument of national integration through the following elements of good governance:  (1) a competent, more productive and performing civil service; (2) prudent, responsible, responsive, transparent and accountable civil service, and (3) working in harmony with and increased participation of the private sector and the third sector. These elements will be achieved through the (1) implementation of the institutional development strategy, (2) procurement and execution of office technology, information technology, technical assistance and training; and, (3) development of a resource mobilization strategy to assist the Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR) in its public sector management reform efforts. This UNDP project is co-implemented by UNESCO and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and executed by OMSAR.

- The “Fiscal Reform and Administration” Project is intended to help rehabilitate the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to perform its fiscal policy role and to effectively collect, manage, administer and account for the public finances of the country. It aims at reactivating and modernizing the tax and customs administrations, and the budget and treasury systems. At the same time, the cadastre and land registration system will be rehabilitated under the World Bank loan through sub-contracting arrangements outside the immediate purview of the project. The UNDP project is implemented jointly by UNCTAD, IMF and UNOPS, and executed by the Ministry of Finance.

- Technical Assistance to the Lebanese Administration was provided since 1993 to various ministries and central offices. The main achievements were: (1) a new and reinforced information and accounts system at the Central Bank, and (2) a redesign of the customer services provided by the Ministry of Economy and Trade, a proposal to reform the norms regulating insurance, silos and consumer protection, and the provision of new information networks at the ministry level (EU funding).

- The project for the Structural Adjustment Facility is designed to reinforce fiscal reform. Amounting to 50 million Euro, the project will provide the Lebanese Government with direct budget assistance, facilitate and accelerate an in-depth reform of public finances and contribute to the sustainability of the Government’s economic plan, while securing the adoption of important fiscal measures, speeding up privatization and using revenues to reduce the debt stock (EU funding).

- A Project for the Industrial modernization was approved in Brussels (grant of 11 Euro) in September 1999. The project aims at supporting the development of private sector manufacturing in Lebanon, with particular emphasis on established small and medium size enterprises in the food processing, printing and packaging industries. The measures proposed focus on helping enterprises with growth capacity to address specific barriers to development and to export effectively, to modernize the legal aspect and access to financing, to support professional training and develop the Lebanese enterprises and joint ventures (EU funding).

- Euro-Mediterranean Small and Medium Size Enterprises cooperation, which finances the organization of business-to-business meetings between Mediterranean and European companies. These enterprises meet in three different fora (1) Euro-Partenariat meetings, (2) Med-Partenariat and (3) Med Enterprise. Several Lebanese companies have already participated in these forums (EU funding).

Within the context of a regional initiative of UNESCO, the Center for Education Research and Development and UNESCO jointly developed a comprehensive interactive database on education. The reform and upgrading of basic education in all aspects is expected to gain from considerable international support in the next few years. The implementation of the curriculum reform continued for the third year, even though budget and capacity constraints inhibited full implementation of all components of the programme. The UNDP educational programme for health and environment prepared with support of WHO, UNESCO and other international organizations was made available to all schools by the Center for Education Research and Development in the last quarter of 1999.

The five-year development plan (2000 - 2004) carried out by CDR suggests a three-point programme to improve market accessibility of the productive sectors:

- Taking immediate action to remove administrative barriers currently hindering trade exchange and foreign investment;

- Adopting measures to upgrade the platform for competitiveness of productive sectors;

- Promoting strategy for competitiveness of groups of related firms through effective measures on each individual sector. 

This programme’s implementation will assist in addressing the fundamental issue of productivity and competitive advantage to better enable Lebanese enterprises to compete in global markets.

Television and newspapers are considered as the most important tools used to promote a better understanding for a closer cooperation for sustainable development. Also, such dissemination is ensured by local partners to these international entities.

A major event is to mention in this respect. The UNDP- Lebanon Country Office organized a UNDP MEDIA Award for Sustainable Human Development, a contest open to all Lebanese Journalists. This contest was organized under the patronage of the Minister of Information and in cooperation with the Press Syndicate and the Journalists Association. The overall objective was to raise awareness and to promote SHD and to encourage media to become partners and allies for increased and positive reporting on development and allies for advocacy. The Media award was launched respectively in 1997 and 1999. This award was made possible by sponsorship of private sector.

Many projects previously described will tackle directly or indirectly the capacity building side for technical experts and professionals. In addition, the FYDP (2000 – 2004) highlighted the need to promote the upgrade of management and industry expertise through:

- the establishment of business incubators that offer business support services as well as a physical location for SME in their start-up phases; knowing that the Ministry of Industry is proposing a national project to create six incubators.

- the promotion of knowledge and skill transfer from Lebanese firms abroad.

- the upgrading of executive education and training. 

Also, the FYDP report pointed out the fact that although Lebanon has currently numerous technical schools, curricula are outdated and limited practical training is provided to meet the needs of priority sectors. Therefore, it is crucial to create vocational and sectoral technical centers in line with the requirements of priority industries.

These steps will be empowered by establishing:

- Specialized telecom infrastructure (data network, additional leased lines);

- Database of foreign companies and individuals in Lebanese emigrant network.

Data on bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation are available through annual reports published by national institutions responsible for the management of international funds and funding agencies. For instance, some of the latest reports are:

  • Development Cooperation Report (Lebanon 2000), prepared by the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator, with support from the Council for Development and Reconstruction; Website: www.undp.org.lb

  • Progress Report (March 2000), Council for Development and Reconstruction; also available on the website: www.cdr.org.lb in three languages (Arabic, French and English).

  • The Ministry of Finance website: www.finance.gov.lb

  • The Central Bank annual and progressive reports as well as website: www.bdl.gov.lb

  • The World Bank documents and website: www.worldbank.org

In addition, data could be obtained through ministries where funded projects are implemented, the Official Gazette and the participation in conferences and seminars.

Information

No information is available.

Research and Technologies  

As explained earlier, funds allocated for environment management and conservation are funded thorugh UNDP, GEF, FFEM, UNIDO, etc. In addition, the Ministry of Environment allocates annually from the budget a small amount of seed money (12 to 20 million Lebanese pounds) to help implement projects proposed by NGOs and screened by a committee representing the Ministry, UNDP, private sector and Lebanese Environment and Development Observatory. These small projects tackle research and conservation issues.

Priorities in technology developmenrt are based upon:

   -           Establishment of a common database for sustainable development (through LEDO);

   -           Upgrading the industrial sector;

   -           Promoting and conserving remaining green cover;

   -           Fighting air and water pollution;

   -      Building the capacity of private and public sector in sustainable development issues.

The FYDP relative to year 2000- 2004 proposes the enhancement of firm knowledge, competencies and strategy as well as enhancing local competition through:

   -           The Trade Information Center;

   -           The creation of a network of MET as first government-to-public e-commerce model in Lebanon. This will facilitate               business access to up-to-date knowledge data bases;

   -           IDAL data bank development;

   -           Upgrade of ACS;

   -           The establishment of a permanent national industrial statistics system at the Ministry of Industry (Industrial Information and Documentation Center);

   -           Competitiveness Fund to support cluster strategy studies; and,

   -           Establishment of a Privatization unit to prepare and implement its privatization programme covering all potential candidates for privatization;

   -           Establishment of an Economic Policy Unit to promote competitiveness measures in trade and services, intellectual property protection and competition policy; and

   -      Technical assistance in drafting competition policy and law sponsored by MET and funded by the World Bank.

A continuous upgrade of technology and constant innovation is also proposed to be based upon:

   -           Funding a master plan for a national strategy for the development of information to advance the high-value-added            information technology sector;

    -           Establishment of E-commerce promotion unit at Ministry of Economy and Trade;

    -     Rehabilitation of laboratories of the Industrial Research Institute to ensure testing of locally produced and imported goods;

    -     Innovation competition through 50.000 US$ prizes awarded by the Ministry of Economy and Trade for top business plan  proposal for a competitive business, solicited from young Lebanese entrepreneurs and students.

Financing 

At the end of 1999, the Government reactivated the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL). In the first semester of 2000, IDAL cleared the way for foreign investment worth about US$ 500 million (3000 job opportunities) by eliminating red tape through the implementation of the “one-stop shop” service, applications for permitting investment projects, submitted by foreign investors are received and facilitated until the final permit is issued.

Also, article 25 of Law 173/2000 relative to national budget 2000, tackles the incentives to develop the financial market. These incentives stated that the relative distributions of the Lebanese financial companies are decreased from 10% to 5% in the following cases (after issuing this law):

-           When any Lebanese Corporation Lebanese contribute by its bonds in the Bourse of Beirut, starting from the year coming after the year of the bonds’ registration.

-           When any Lebanese Corporation allocates a percentage not less than 20% of its capital to Arabic companies whose bonds are operating in their respective bourse’ countries, or to foreign countries whose bonds are operating in the Bourse of OECD countries.

-     When any Lebanese Corporation issued GDR corresponding to 20% at least of its total bonds available at Bourse of Beirut.

The Lebanese Government signed (and still) several agreements aiming at increasing the investment of local companies and businesses in other countries. In this respect, the 1977 Economic and Financial Cooperation Agreement made with EU regulate trade relationship between EU and Lebanon. As a result of this agreement, about 85% of all Lebanese exports to EU benefit from preferential treatment. In return, Lebanon is not required to give preferential treatment to EU products.

Since 1992, Lebanon has entered into, or initialed, a number of treaties for the promotion and protection of investments and the avoidance of double taxation. The Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investment aims at promoting private investments between two contracting countries in each other’s territory. Treaties for the promotion and protection of investments have been signed with each of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Canada, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, Morocco, Romania, Russia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates.  Similar treaties have been initialed with each of Belgium, Bulgaria, Kuwait, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.  The Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of fiscal evasion grants solutions to individual and legal entities that suffer tax treatment on an item in the same time period. Treaties for the avoidance of double taxation have been entered into with four countries, signed with six others and initialed with additional fourteen countries.

Lebanon Invest Global Loan Risk Capital: The European Investment Bank made funds available to Lebanon Invest, to take equity participation and help finance small and medium size industrial projects. Investments are made in new projects and in the rehabilitation and extension of existing projects. Funding is provided in the form of equity, and semi-equity, and is used to start, expand or improve a company (EU funding).

Official Development Assistance amounted to 175 million US$ in 1999 equivalent to 41.7 US$ per capita. This is below average for a country recovering from an extended complex emergency period. ODA net is estimated at roughly the same level as last year (about 140 million US$). ODA per capita represented roughly 1% of GNP, which is below the average of other countries at a similar level of development. The distribution external assistance focused on social development, health care, energy, human resources, transport, humanitarian and development administration, and area development implemented through programmes and projects targeting the totality of the Lebanese territory.

Continuous efforts are being deployed by the Government to increase these benefits that were affected during the last period by domestic and donor constraints.

Cooperation

Regional integration and cooperation in sustainable development including environmental protection;

Cooperation is made through regional programmes implemented by international funding agencies (e.g. GEF, UNDP), donor agencies and countries, as well as through bilateral agreements (Syria). These programmes will be presented in details in other sections of the questionnaire.

Multilateral cooperation and agreements related to sustainable development;

Lebanon established bilateral and multilateral agreements with many countries (refer to questions no. 6 and 33).

UNDP undertook in 1999-2000 a project to strengthen the capacity for monitoring and reporting on the environment, implemented by UNESCWA (80.000 US$).

The Lebanese Government and UNDP/UNSO (80.000 US$) and the German Government (480.000 US$ through GTZ) started a three-year national action programme aiming at taking stock of the current situation of desertification, to be followed by the formulation of a strategy for the management of drylands.  

A UNIDO field mission is preparing a three-year programme (94.5 million US$) with a focus on effective governance, partnerships and market access, improving enterprise performance, and promotion of cleaner production. Resources for programme implementation are to be mobilized.

In mid-2000, GEF approved a project for the promotion of energy conservation, amounting to 3.5 million US$. Early in 2000, GEF had approved the inclusion of Lebanon in the list of countries to benefit from small-scale grants for NGOs and local associations.

The World Bank is currently preparing to replace the Coastal Zone Management Project that was cancelled.

Lebanon is a Contracting Party to:

- Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP), 1975

- Barcelona Convention plus five protocols, signed and ratified the following Protocols:

   -          Pollution from shops and aircraft or incineration at Sea;

   -           Oil and further harmful substances;

   -           Land-based sources of contamination;

   -           Specially protected areas and biological diversity.

- United Nations Framework on Biological Diversity, 1992. Signed and ratified by Lebanon in December 1994.

- Paris Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972.

- The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International importance especially waterfowl habitat,1971. Ratified in 1998.

- The Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna, 1973. Signed.

- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: Signed in 1995

- Ozone Depleting Substances: Vienna Protocol; Montreal Protocol and London amendments: Ratified in 1993.

- The United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea: Signed by Lebanon.

- The MARPOL 73/78 Convention, Annex 1: Signed and Annexes ratified.

- The Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. Not ratified yet.

- Kyoto Protocol: Not signed. 

The bilateral cooperation between Lebanon and Syria witnessed a far-reaching agreement on environmental issues (signed in February 2000).  The agreement covers joint actions to address environmental issues affecting agriculture, water safety, coastal area management and marine ecology. It is observed that whereas collaborative and joint action in tourism development warrants to be accelerated, the approach of liberalization of trade agricultural trade appears hasty, particularly in the absence of a programme to accompany the required transformation and upgrading of the sector.

A Lebanese –UAE free trade agreement was signed on 15 April 2000; it could set the stage for a three way trade zone (Lebanon, Syria and UAE). Lebanon has similar free trade agreements with Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Lebanon will adhere to the electricity network of the Near East. Lebanon will join Turkey, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Jordan in a power-grid connection project, which will help Arab countries provide cheaper and more electricity to consumers.

Joint activities are being made through (1) conferences, seminars or workshops, (2) participation in an internationally funded project as expert, (3) NGO membership, (4) directories of professionals at international agencies.

 

 

* * * 

This information is based on Lebanon's submission to the 9th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, April 2001. Last update: November 2000.

| Lebanon | All Countries | Home |

TRADE

Decision-Making: Coordinating Bodies   

No information is available.

Decision-Making: Legislation and Regulations 

No information is available.

Decision-Making: Strategies, Policies and Plans  

The Five Year Development Plan (2000 - 2004) carried out by CDR pointed out to the necessity to launch in the short term several initiatives in order to produce world-class products and services: 

 -Establishment of an Export Promotion Board to formulate export promotion strategies and monitor international markets for new opportunities;

-Establishment of a WTO unit at the Ministry of Economy and Trade to study the impact of liberalization on the economy, develop regulatory and legislative changes and work on Lebanon’s accession to WTO;

-Enhance capacity to negotiate effective trade agreements with the Arab markets as well as with EU;

-Marketing Strategy and Materials (IDAL);

-Data base of Lebanese owned firms located abroad.

 Decision-Making: Major Groups Involvement  

No information is available.

Programmes and Projects 

A three-point programme was suggested to strengthen the competitiveness of the productive sectors, in the short term:

-Immediate action to remove barriers to trade and foreign investment;

-Mobilization of domestic and external financial resources for development cooperation;

-Transfer of environmentally sound technology and know-how.

Status

Lebanon has applied for membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and was granted as observer status in April 1999

The Lebanese Government is also negotiating a partnership agreement with the European Union as part of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership framework.  The proposed partnership covers several areas of cooperation, including the progressive liberalization of trade in goods and services through a gradual phasing out of tariff and non-tariff barriers, the liberalization of the right of establishment and trade in services, and various aspects dealing with financial support and grants.  Implementation of the partnership agreement would require various structural changes in Lebanon, targeting industrial, agricultural and tax policies

Also, Lebanon is party to the Arab Free Trade Agreement and, tariffs on certain goods are being reduced by 10% annually among 14 Arab countries.

Free trade agreements were entered into force with Syria, Egypt, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.  In addition, in February 1988, an agreement was entered into force between Lebanon and Syria, pursuant to which tariffs on industrial goods are being reduced by 25% per year, since 1999.  A similar agreement for the reduction of tariffs on agricultural goods was entered into in September 1999 pursuant to which tariffs have been reduced by 50% effective November 1999, with an annual reduction of 10% over a period of five years.