“We need to be more realistic and enjoy life a little bit. We don’t have to make money every year; there are many nice things to be done in the country.”
“We are picking up slack not because of Syria so much but due to Turkish suppliers being out of the market. They are now being restricted due to logistics and political reasons, and that trade link has been broken.”
“We are selling more but there is the problem of cash flow. People are afraid of spending money in the current environment… We are selling for cash not credit as the currency is fluctuating a lot. We sell in Syrian pounds and then transfer on the spot.”
“There is a lot more research and development in Lebanon than elsewhere in the region. In Saudi Arabia, Syria, the Emirates, they just copy others.”
“I am personally worried, not only for the situation of industrialists but also because of the condition of public finance and its impact on the economy and the pressure it puts on the private sector. Our indicators are not good, to say the least.”
“Before the Syrian crisis, Lebanon was a good transit point for cargo to Iraq. Now there are a lot of doubts. Traders are asking what will happen to their cargo if it gets stuck due to a crisis during transportation in Lebanon or elsewhere.”
“I think Lebanese industry is going through its worst period since the end of the civil war. We have never had this agglomeration of domestic, regional and global factors affecting supply and demand.”
