WorkGroups

Health Sector & Social Safety Net

Healthcare, a recognized human right, faces an economic paradox: richer countries spend more due to affordability. Lebanon’s crises shrink public healthcare funding; central bank and IMF COVID-19 subsidies are unsustainable. The National Social Security Fund’s aid to vulnerable patients ends. Neglected World Bank, IMF reforms hinder foreign investment. Counterfeit drugs, smuggling, and medical staff emigration worsen issues. The plan aims for comprehensive solutions, ensuring access and reducing financial burdens. Urgent and long-term recommendations pursue sustainable, inclusive healthcare for Lebanon’s population.

Head of GPA: Mr. Roland Salloum

Lebanon’s Tourism Sector

Lebanon’s multi-faceted crisis demands structural reforms, including securing IMF program and diverse financing sources. The GPA proposes a shift to a productive and competitive economy driven by the private sector, with government support. A reform-oriented strategy is outlined to revive the tourism sector, stimulate innovation, generate employment, and establish Lebanon as a premier regional tourist destination.

Lebanon’s Food Security

Lebanon’s crises have deepened food insecurity, necessitating urgent reforms. The GPA proposes four policy options to reduce imports and promote local agriculture for improved food security. The document emphasizes collaboration among stakeholders for successful implementation, including government, private sector, and international organizations. The action plan outlines short and long-term measures to address food insecurity challenges effectively.

Trade Facilitation & Customs Reforms

Lebanon must address trade facilitation challenges to drive economic growth and attract investment. The GPA recommends a comprehensive strategy to modernize customs processes, improve governance, and combat customs evasion. Short-to-medium-term measures include updating laws, implementing facilitation measures, and strengthening border protection. Long-term solutions involve digitizing trade procedures and developing a strategy for cross-border e-commerce. These reforms aim to streamline trade, reduce costs, and enhance governance in Lebanon’s trade sector.

Head of GPA: Mrs Nadine el Khoury

Monetary Policy

Lebanon’s economic crisis, worsened by political manipulation, demands urgent reforms. The GPA’s policy brief reveals the need to regain control of the money supply, tackle hyperinflation, and reform the banking sector. Collaboration among stakeholders is crucial for successful implementation. Dollarization may become the sole option without reforms.

Financial Sector Recovery plan

Lebanon grapples with a severe “deliberate depression” as noted by the World Bank, necessitating economic recovery through addressing financial sector collapse. Functional financial institutions are crucial for growth and systemic problem-solving. Sustainable state debt and relieving burdens on the central bank’s balance sheet are vital. Immediate action is crucial to halt alarming reserve erosion since October 2019. Private sectors emphasize a successful plan’s cornerstone is reaching goals with maximum stakeholder buy-in, aiming for a sustainable V-shaped recovery. The plan involves public debt restructuring, BDL liabilities, and banking sector overhaul, prioritizing depositor protection and preventing future restructuring needs.

Access to finance

The Access to Finance GPA focuses on improving credit access for Lebanon’s private sector. With the informal economy growing and threatening the formal sector, the GPA proposes interim financing solutions until the banking sector undergoes restructuring. Addressing the crisis and engaging decision-makers are crucial for sustainable economic growth and restoring confidence in Lebanon’s financial system.

Energy

Lebanon’s electricity crisis has had a detrimental impact on its economy and citizens’ well-being. The GPA highlights the urgent need to address this issue, as power cuts and subsidies have worsened the financial crisis. The collapse of Electricité du Liban’s operations and daily electricity shortages require immediate action to mitigate the negative consequences and restore stable electricity supply for the country.

Head of GPA: Mr Philippe el Khoury

Oil and Gas

The Oil and Gas GPA aims to guide Lebanon in maximizing the potential of its oil and gas resources, particularly in light of recent maritime border agreements. It emphasizes the importance of establishing a comprehensive framework to effectively manage natural resources, protect the environment, and ensure long-term benefits for future generations through sustainable revenue generation.

Innovation

The Innovation GPA aims to harness Lebanon’s skilled and entrepreneurial talent pool to drive the transition to a knowledge-based economy. The GPA recognizes the challenges hindering innovation and proposes solutions to unlock Lebanon’s full potential in the digital age. By addressing these obstacles and providing opportunities, Lebanon can navigate the current crisis and embrace a future of innovation and economic growth.

Head of GPA: Mr Raja Abdallah

Women Empowerment

Empowering women and closing gender gaps are key for economies and communities to thrive. To this end, the GPA proposes an approach divided into three pillars: (1) women on boards, or the question of how to promote women’s representation in upper management positions; (2) inheritance in family business, or the exploration of possible ways to safeguard women’s position with respect to inheritance laws, and; (3) women in the workplace, or how to promote safe, inclusive, and respectful workplaces.

Head of GPA: Mrs Valérie Zakka

Business Environment (ongoing)

This GPA focuses on increasing the efficiency, competitiveness, and growth of the Lebanese private sector through improving the country’s business environment, most notably, by minimizing superfluous regulatory barriers, promoting competition, and improving governance; this will pave the way towards stabilization, restoring trust in institutions, attracting investment, and fulfilling Lebanon’s potential to become a regional hub for creating and operating businesses.