Lebanon Opportunities
celebrates 20 years of facts

“We have committed ourselves on

the side of the doers,” said publisher

Lebanon Opportunities played host to 650 guests at the Résidence des Pins on Thursday. The ceremony celebrated 20 years of opportunities, right where Lebanon was first proclaimed.

“What is Lebanon – if not an opportunity?” said Ramzi El Hafez, the magazine’s founder and publisher.

Excerpt from Ramzi El Hafez’s address

When Lebanon Opportunities was launched in 1997, it was to chronicle a national promise of progress and development. Dreams abound of a modern country, fair to its citizens, hospitable to its returning or visiting expatriates, and to tourists, enabling business to thrive, and protecting the weak strata of its people. Doers and cynics battled, back then, the merits of these dreams – and they still do today.

We have committed ourselves on the side of the doers. The successes realized in the past two decades, and the pitfalls as well, have convinced us that the battle is not yet over. We shall persevere in our mission.

Backed by statistics, a story is being told, pointing to major achievements. Taken from this long-term perspective, it becomes crystal clear that the final score is very positive. A solid economy has been built, a private sector is standing on solid grounds, a diversification of sectors is providing jobs to all kinds of specialties, and access to funding is available to both companies and a squandering public sector.

Companies still do not have it easy, having to jump over obstacles, starting with an archaic public sector and corruption, barriers to exports, high energy costs, decaying infrastructure, and a legal system no longer adapted to current needs.

Here is a teaser of what you will find in the 20th anniversary magazine:
In 1997, our GDP was around $15 billion. It is $52 billion today. Per capita, it has more than doubled from $5,000 to $11,000 placing Lebanon in the bracket of middle income countries.

Exports went from around $500 million per year to $3 billion while simultaneously imports have increased from $4 to $18 billion.

Private wealth, as measured by deposits in banks sextupled from $25 billion to more than $160 billion.

University enrolment went up from 88,000 students to 188,000 students.

Infant mortality went down from 28 per thousand to eight per thousand, and life expectancy at birth increased from 70 to 75 years.

Other facts are not good news. Debt has increased from $15 billion to $75 billion, fiscal deficit from $2 to $5 billion per year, and the trade deficit has tripled from $5 billion to $15 billion. Although electricity production almost doubled, it is still in a dismal state. Politically, it was one fiasco after the other, with the majority of citizens losing faith in all political sides.

As we celebrate here today, the mood beyond these walls is somber. It seems that most people are focused on the empty portion of the glass – forgetting that together we have seen many days that have been much worse, with very high interest rates, rampant inflation, military conflicts and wars, occupation from East and South, and so many challenges.

Still, we have tripled our economy, boosted our trade, developed our industrial base, modernized part of our agriculture, and seriously improved our social indicators.

We have built a good base. But today, this base is today under attack. We, the private sector, and private citizens, are good business warriors. Let us keep the morale high. There is no reason to despair, even if the current landscape is demoralizing.

To continue the journey, we must recognize and rejoice our successes. Staying focused on what brings us down is good – as long as it is balanced with self-confidence, driven by the achievements made. Resignation is not allowed. We have demonstrated, as a productive society, our ability to reach heights in a large number of sectors.

For 20 years, we have published every month an entire magazine on what is working, how it is done, where the opportunities are, and how to face obstacles. Combined, the works can be classified as encyclopedic. This was not the fruit of our imagination, or a matter of opinion. It is the result of observing thousands of companies, institutions, and individuals succeed in a difficult and sometimes hostile environment. Some have labeled us optimistic. We prefer factual.

Lebanon Opportunities has been very successful, each year more than the previous one. This is not just because we have learned how to become better, but because our environment and our economy has become bigger and more promising. ‘The proof is in the pudding’, goes the saying. We are the pudding!