On October 8, LIMS organized an in-person workshop gathering 25 political activists from across Lebanon, including: representatives of 3 MPs and 14 candidates of the 2022 parliamentary elections. The workshop included three sessions.
The first session discussed strengthening governance, fighting corruption, and money laundering. Different ways corruption in Lebanon takes place in customs, the tax department, public procurement, and so on, were described. Stakeholders’ roles in fighting corruption were highlighted and solutions to reduce illicit activities were suggested. All-star speakers, famous for promoting governance, spoke at the session including: Riad Kobaissi, head of the investigative reports’ unit at Al Jadeed TV, Dr. Jean Ellieh, president of the public procurement authority, Judge Rana Akoum, head of the execution court in Jdeidet El Metn, and Mr. Karim Daher, international business attorney and tax consultant.
For the second session, speakers looked into the 2022 budget and explored ways to reform the public sector in Lebanon. Fiscal policy, customs and tax evasion, government-owned monopolies and government spending were thoroughly analyzed, and solutions were suggested. Speakers included: Dr. Bassem Bawab, board member of the Beirut Traders Association, Dr. Mohamad Fheili, financial risk expert and economic researcher, Mr. Nicholas Chikhani, financial and banking expert, and Mr. Garabed Fakrajian, policy analyst at LIMS.
At the third session, a solution to stopping the currency crisis in Lebanon was proposed. Lebanon is a highly dollarized country, making traditional prescriptions unfit. Alternative routes, such as establishing a currency board or adopting full dollarization were explored and heavily debated. The speakers at the session were: Dr. Layal Mansour, visiting lecturer at George Washington University, and Dr. Walid Marrouch, professor of economics and assistant dean of graduate studies and research at the Lebanese American University (LAU).
Click here to view full album for LLA201 workshop