Lebanon’s industry leaders call for help but pleas fall on deaf ears

While the Lebanese industrialists’ chorus of demands going into 2007 has certainly grown louder following the July-August war, their wish-list has changed only marginally. As 2006 approached, local manufacturers were lamenting the country’s perennial instability and pleading for the government to compensate the sector for lost income following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Industrialists bemoaned high energy prices and the inability of local exports to compete at the regional level with low-priced goods from Egypt and Syria, where both power and labor is far cheaper. They asked for the state to prioritize industrial development—which has traditionally taken a back seat to the hospitality and real-estate sectors—and decrease Lebanon’s reliance on imported raw materials and commodities. Though the grievances are familiar, the fortunes of Lebanon’s vulnerable industrial sector have deteriorated precipitously. In the first half of 2006, exports of manufactured goods rose 51% to a value of $1.3