ALI to hold export promotion meetings

Turmoil next door, high transportation
costs and wages behind exports decline

The drop in industrial exports threatens the survival of local factories, said Khaled Farshoukh, president of the Council for the Development of Industrial Exports.

Industrial exports fell by five percent year-on-year in the first half of 2012 to $1.5 billion. Imports of industrial equipment and machinery also fell by around 13 percent.

“The continued slowdown will eventually force a number of factories and production lines to shut down, consequently resulting in the dismissal of many workers,” Farshoukh said. He said that local sales of Lebanese-made goods had fallen by 20 percent y-o-y.

The Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI) has scheduled a meeting for all its members this month (October), on the 10th, 11th, and 12th, to find solutions for this crisis.

According to Farshoukh, the slowdown has mostly affected the manufacture of mechanical and electrical products, foodstuffs, and petrochemicals. “The turmoil and instability in neighboring countries, as well as the economic recession in the region have affected consumer demand in the Arab world,” said Farshoukh. He said the high cost of transportation was another reason for the decline: “Our biggest problem is the substantial rise in production costs, triggered by the high cost of transport and wages of workers.”

Exporters are seeking new markets, while also working to activate existing ones. Farshoukh said exports to the GCC countries, the country's main trade partners, have also come down because of hardships experienced in overland transport. He said exports to Syria have also dropped from last year’s levels.