With support from the Ford Foundation, the LCPS organized the first meeting of policy
research centers in the Arab Middle East. The conference was held in a Lebanese
mountain resort in early August. The participants included
After reviewing common interests and concerns, the participants agreed on the following points:
In cooperation with the World Bank, the LCPS conducted a study of the effects on industry of the proposed Lebanese-EuroMed trade agreement. The proposed agreement, which is likely to be signed in the coming months, would reduce import tariffs between Lebanon and its European and Mediterranean partners gradually until their final elimination. The study, led by Kamal Shehadi of the Center, was based on a survey of 150 industrial firms in Lebanon. Through visits and in-depth interviews, the study looked at the competitiveness of the industrial firms and the challenges they faced in an increasingly open market. The study focused on the level of capital and human resources and the extent to which local industries were meeting or approaching international standards. This study is part of the Center's ongoing cooperation with the World Bank and part of its general interest in enhancing Lebanon's export capacity in the context of open markets.
Subsequent to the book published on the 1992 parliamentary elections, the LCPS has assembled a team to prepare a book length study on the 1996 elections. The team includes:
The work on the book will include two public workshops. The book is to be completed and published in early 1997.
Also in cooperation with the World Bank, in this case with the Economic Development Institute within the Bank, the LCPS is putting in place a project that is intended to be of an annual nature. The project aims to assemble a team of public finance specialists and data analysts; the team will receive the proposed government budget, that is usually issued around September, and will conduct a rapid analysis of it before it is raised and voted on in parliament (usually in November, at the earliest). The analysis will be summarized in a booklet or diskette form and will be made available to deputies, researchers, and the press. The aim of the project is to provide lawmakers in particular with a better understanding of each annual budget and to enable them to formulate clearer questions and positions regarding the budget.
The Center has also agreed, in cooperation with the World Bank and the Economic Research Forum of the Middle East to cooperate with institutes in Egypt, Turkey, Kuwait, and elsewhere on three research projects: the first is on privatization, the second is on trade, and the third, which will be based in Beirut, on local government finance.
During the summer the fifth issue of the Center's Arabic journal, Abaad, was published. It focused on the judicial sector in Lebanon. The LCPS also published the first in a series of economic policy studies, a monograph by Dr. Elie Yachouie on Industrial Policy in Lebanon. This study is to be followed by a second on Labor Policy by Dr. Najib Issa, and a third on Agricultural Policy by Dr. Toufic Jabour. Due out in the coming weeks also is a monograph on electoral fraud in Lebanon prepared by Mr. Toni Atallah. The LCPS is also continuing its previous work on civic education, local government, the multilateral peace talks, environmental policy, socio-economic disparities, and other topics.