Back in the black

There were very few positives for the Lebanese economy in 2013, but the industrial sector was perhaps one of them. If 2011 and 2012 were years of crisis — with the Syrian civil war destroying trade routes and wreaking havoc with business plans — 2013 was a year of adaption and stabilization. In the first eight months of 2013, industrial exports totaled $2.2 billion, an increase of 12.3 percent from $1.9 billion in the same period in 2012, according to the Ministry of Industry. Industrial imports reached $217 million in the same time period, up 7.7 percent from $201.4 million in 2012. The government does not collect accurate information for total industrial output but Neemat Frem, head of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI), told Executive that growth was “certainly double digit” in 2013. These figures were, admittedly, starting from a low point after terrible years in 2011 and 2012,