Q&A: Nicolas Nahas

Buffeted by crises at home and abroad, the Lebanese economy stuttered in 2012 and closed the year unsteadily. Many laws currently stuck in the processes of  government could possibly bolster the country’s business environment and right the ship, but problems abound in passing them through Parliament, let alone their implementation. Executive met with Minister of Economy and Trade, Nicolas Nahas to talk about how he assesses the impasse. Lebanon has a very high prevalence of market-distorting oligopolies. Why have you not enacted the anti-trust legislation and competition laws? This law has been drafted and sent to the Parliament. Unfortunately the competition law is one of the 69 laws around which there is a kind of political debate. They were made during Siniora’s term. Now there is a constitutional debate about how to enact these laws and I hope that can be resolved soon. These laws will challenge a lot of