Missed opportunities in Lebanon’s industrial sector

Lebanon’s productive sectors have been undermined since the end of the civil war in 1990. Like other marginalized sectors, the industrial sector has weakened, becoming a smaller proportion of the economy due in no small part to a history of missed development opportunities. To put this in perspective, the share of the industrial sector out of total GDP has decreased steadily from 24 percent  in 1997 to 14 percent in 2016. Not unrelated to this, Lebanon continues to register the worst trade deficit in the region, primarily due to its dependency on imports and weak export channels. The trade deficit, $15.65 billion by December 2016, has recorded a 3.56 percent yearly increase (according to BLOMINVEST Bank figures). Exports have also fluctuated in recent years from $4.49 billion in 2008, up to $5.11 billion in 2012, and then down to $2.44 billion in 2015. Development in the industrial sector has been