The Lebanese foreign minister, Faris Buwayz, opened the conference. He was followed by Bernard Philippe of the European Commission, who focused on the format of Mediterranean association agreements and Robert Lawrence of Harvard University who concentrated on the nature and variety of preferential trade agreements. Other participants, including Alan Winters and Ishac Diwan of the World Bank, Peter Gopfrich of the German trade and industry ministry, Nasser Saidi of the Banque du Liban, Youssef Choucair of the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon, Nouhad Baroudi of the Council for Reconstruction and Development, and Zafer al-Hassan, the director-general of the foreign ministry, discussed the political and economic framework of Lebanese-EU relations; the impact of Euro-Mediterranean partnership on the manufacturing sector and technology transfer; and the challenges posed by a partnership to Lebanese exports, whether in terms of competitiveness, industrial and agricultural norms and standards, insurance and reinsurance services, or transportation. They also discussed the legal regulations of and obstacles to Lebanese-EU trade; capital and investment flows across the Mediterranean; and the development of financial markets to handle and encourage efficient capital movements.
The conference sought to emphasize the need for rapid progress in Lebanese-EU negotiations in order to offset the risks and costs of delays in the regional peace process and the development of more open regional markets. The conference papers will be published, and a rapporteur is preparing a summary of the proceedings.
On June 7-8, the LCPS held a conference on income distribution, class differences, the government's social policies, and social security services in postwar Lebanon. Participants included an economic adviser to the government, Marwan Iskandar, the vice-president of the Council for Development and Reconstruction, Boutros Labaki, the director of the Social Security Fund, `Abd al-Halim Huraibi, the director of Central Bank Financial Operations, Yusuf al-Khalil, as well as researchers, officials, deputies, journalists, bankers, insurance managers, and others.
The conference began by trying to map out an income pyramid after the war. The problem underlined by the participants was the serious lack of reliable data on income distribution and on such basic indicators as GDP. The participants urged the government to improve the official Central Statistics Administration, which has recently resumed operations, but is still lacking in resources, manpower, and effectiveness. Despite an absence of reliable data, most participants agreed that there appeared to be a modest growth in the size of the middle class as compared to the last years of the war, and a related decline in the size of those living below the absolute and extreme poverty lines.
With regard to social security, government officials underlined the progress made in reviving the National Fund for Social Security from near bankruptcy in 1990 to a condition of relative health today. Participants also agreed that the government needed to continue to accord serious attention to financial and administrative reform of the fund to enable it to expand services to a wider cross-section of the population. They also outlined legislative steps needed to carry the social security agenda forward into the 21st century - steps related to old-age pension, unemployment insurance, and on-the-job injury and/or disability. The proceedings of the conference will be published in the Center's Arabic-language journal, Abaad.
On June 1-2, the LCPS presented the first draft of a study on civil society in Beirut at the U.N. World Habitat Conference in Istanbul. The presentation was made in cooperation with three other research centers in Istanbul, Amman, and Casablanca, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation. The LCPS civil society draft report presented an overview of the situation of NGOs, unions, professional associations, family and neighborhood associations, political parties, cultural bodies, and sporting associations in Beirut. It analyzed the various types and categories of associations in Beirut, and prepared a historical overview of their development and the legal and political framework within which they operate. The report remarked on the size and dynamism of civil society organizations in Lebanon, but also noted the prominence of family, religious, and other traditional forms of association, especially in the postwar period. The report warned against talking about civil society associations in generalized terms and urged a closer examination of the makeup and behavior of particular associations in order to better understand their effect on society in general. The study will be continued throughout the summer.
In other areas, the LCPS has been asked by the Ministry of Administrative Reform to prepare a reformed draft of the law on municipalities and municipal taxes in Lebanon. The center is also continuing its work with the Ministry of Education to redraft the country's civic education program. The center is cooperating with the newly-established Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE) to undertake studies on electoral reform, election fraud, and monitoring. Among visitors to the center recently were Samir Amin of the Third World Forum, Sven-Erik Söder of the Olaf Palme Institute, and Hassan Ibrahim of the Kuwaiti Association for the Advancement of Arab Children.