Industrial permits
up by 38 percent

There were 94 licenses issued for new industrial establishments

Industrial permits issued by the Ministry of Industry (MoI) reached 357 licenses in the first half of 2015, increasing by 38 percent from the same period last year.

Establishment licenses, i.e. to start a factory, represented the highest percentage (38 percent). Investment licenses, related exploitation of the facility, represented around 22 percent.

Most licenses were issued to industries from the third category (45 percent) or semi-light industries, such as food industry factories, then for industries from the fourth light category (35 percent), such as textile factories.

“There is a large potential in the food industrial sector and it is achieving continuous growth,” said Fadi Gemayel, Chairman of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists. He said that there is still a shortage in the amount of food produced and this is prohibiting industrialists from penetrating news markets such as Canada and Russia. “This is pushing industrialists to put more investments in this sub-sector to meet international needs,” he said.

Gaby Tamer, Vice Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, said that part of these licenses are provided to Syrian industrialists, as well as expatriates coming back from Africa and Gulf countries.

The Mount Lebanon governorate received the highest share of licenses (56 percent), and they were mainly given in Metn. It was followed by Bekaa (17 percent), and the North (nine percent).

About 104 licenses went to the food industry, followed by 62 licenses for construction material industries, and 38 for chemical industries.

Tamer said that new chemical products, such as hand and shower gels, are becoming a necessity rather than luxury items for customers from all income classes. “This increasing demand is pushing industrialists to establish chemical product facilities,” he said.

The most industrial zones that gained licenses were Chiah (18 licenses), Choueifat (14 licenses), and Anfeh (ten licenses).

The number of licenses provided for the establishment of new factories is 94. Gemayel said that most of the new licenses are for small and medium enterprises. “Industrialists are still afraid of taking high risks, for this reason they are allocating small budgets for their establishments,” he said.